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Bruno Guimaraes to Arsenal: Why Arsenal won’t let the Bruno Guimaraes deal drop
Bruno Guimaraes to Arsenal: Arsenal won their first Premier League title in 22 years last season. It was glorious. But Mikel Arteta isn’t stopping there. The name at the very top of his summer wishlist is Newcastle United captain Bruno Guimaraes. This isn’t a mandate from the board. It isn’t just sporting director Andrea Berta working the phones. It’s Arteta. He is personally driving this transfer internally, having tracked the Brazilian midfielder since well before he landed at St James’ Park in January 2022.
Fabrizio Romano confirmed on his YouTube channel that the Arsenal manager is pushing hard for the move. Romano described Arteta as a big fan of the player who has always appreciated the 28-year-old. This isn’t standard recruitment noise. It’s a manager-led fixation on a very specific profile. (Via GMS)
What the bids tell us about Newcastle’s stance
Arsenal failed with an opening bid of around £60m. Reports from Football Transfers indicate the Gunners subsequently received a green light from Guimaraes himself to explore a deal, and a fresh £80m proposal is now being prepared. Newcastle haven’t flinched. Romano was blunt, stating it’s not going to be easy at all for Arsenal to get it done. The Magpies have told Guimaraes and those close to him directly that they want to keep him.
The stubbornness makes sense. Newcastle have already sanctioned the departures of Anthony Gordon to Barcelona and Sandro Tonali, who is heading to Tottenham Hotspur for around £100m. Losing their captain on top of that would cause serious structural damage to Eddie Howe’s squad.
The numbers show why Arteta is so fixated. In the 2025/26 Premier League season, Guimaraes made 29 appearances, clocking 2,459 minutes, and scored nine goals. He finished as Newcastle’s top scorer in the league. The club handed him their Player of the Year award, with the Brazilian also leading the squad in assists. His goal involvement rate of 0.51 per 90 minutes placed him in the upper bracket of top-flight midfielders. He took 42 shots, hit the target 23 times, and recorded a shooting accuracy of nearly 55 per cent.
At the World Cup in the United States this summer, he’s been just as influential for Brazil, registering four assists as the Seleção advanced into the last 16. His stock has never been higher.
Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli, who plays alongside him at the international level, has labelled Guimaraes one of the best midfielders in the world. That kind of endorsement from inside the Emirates dressing room carries weight. Arteta’s midfield leaned heavily on Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi through 2025/26, and the pair looked exhausted during the run-in. Guimaraes adds an elite third option. He is a box-to-box midfielder with leadership, range, and a proven Premier League record of 30 goals and 25 assists across 153 appearances, according to Opta.
Read: Man Utd open talks to complete signing of £50m Arsenal target
Interest from the Arsenal manager stretches back to when he first took charge in 2020. That gives this pursuit a sense of longevity that sets it apart from typical silly season rumours. Now we see whether Newcastle crack before the window slams shut.
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