Newcastle United sporting director Ross Wilson has insisted the club “didn’t want to sell” captain Bruno Guimaraes, despite the Brazil international edging closer to a high-profile move to Arsenal in what has become a turbulent summer at St James’ Park.
Guimaraes, 28, is expected to complete his switch to the Gunners after emerging as one of ARSENAL‘s top midfield targets. The Brazilian has been a central figure for Newcastle since arriving from Lyon in January 2022, helping establish the club as a regular contender for European qualification.
Speaking about the midfielder’s impending departure, Wilson acknowledged the club’s reluctance to part with one of its most influential players: “We didn’t want to sell Bruno. It wasn’t in the plan to sell Bruno. None of us — or ownership — wanted to sell Bruno.
“He’s our captain, he was very, very important to us and the debate over his price — it’s a world-record fee for a player of his age.
“What we had to weigh up was, very respectfully from Bruno with his behaviour towards us, very emotionally as well, effectively told us he wanted to leave and move on.
“That doesn’t mean he can go but it certainly plays a part in what our thinking is when we hit a certain range of number. But there’s no part in saying it was part of our strategy and was in our thinking this summer — it wasn’t.
“But we have got to be flexible and react to things that happen. It might have been in our plan to sign one player but we didn’t get him so we move on to another. We can only be honest about that.”
Jaissle inherits a team that has lost several experienced leaders, with Guimaraes’ expected exit removing not only the club captain but also one of the Premier League’s most accomplished central midfielders. Replacing his influence, creativity and leadership will be among the German coach’s immediate priorities.
Despite the scale of the departures, Newcastle are expected to remain active in the transfer market as they look to strengthen the squad before the transfer window closes. Club officials continue to work on potential reinforcements, although replacing players of Guimaraes’ quality will prove a considerable challenge.
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