Newcastle United remain steadfast in their desire to retain Bruno Guimaraes through January, but a strong interest from Manchester City and a potential call from the Cityzen offices might change everything.
The Athletic’s Chris Waugh acknowledged the reasonable nature of the speculation and made clear that the possibility of a January “can’t be dismissed entirely” given Man City’s issues at midfield following Rodri’s season-ending injury.
Waugh explained the situation while responding to a question about Manchester City’s pursuit in a Q&A published on Monday.
“Manchester City’s need for central midfielders is acute and Pep Guardiola does hold a long-term admiration for Guimaraes, something he has told the player during (brief) exchanges,” Waugh wrote. “Guimaraes, too, believes he is a Champions League-standard player and there would be a temptation to explore such a move.”
At present, those inside Newcastle insist no contact has been made from City regarding their star midfielder, which Waugh notes would be unusual for a deal of this scale so close to January.
“For a signing of that cost and magnitude, it would be unusual for there to have been no movement at all already,” Waugh wrote.
The insider emphasized that Newcastle are determined not to part with key players like Guimaraes, Anthony Gordon, or Alexander Isak mid-season, but you can never say never.
Financially, Newcastle are not under immediate pressure to sell their stars, with fringe sales expected to satisfy any PSR requirements, although someone will inevitably have to go between now and next June to keep the PSR balance in the black.
All of that said, Waugh conceded that Guardiola’s admiration and Bruno’s Premier League experience make him an appealing target and a potential transfer could be looming on the near or at least not-so-distant horizon.
“That is not to dismiss this as a transfer entirely,” Waugh wrote. “Guimaraes is liked by Guardiola, has Premier League experience and operates as a No 6 (even if he has shifted to No 8 recently).”
While Newcastle would demand a significant fee, it is unlikely to reach the £100 million release clause that was previously tied to Bruno’s deal, according to Waugh.
Still, the insider stressed that any move for the Brazilian “would not be a straightforward deal for them to complete.”