Bruno Guimaraes wasn’t exactly a popular opponent whenever Arsenal faced Newcastle, but that hasn’t stopped him being welcomed with open arms since his move to north London.
While the decision to leave St James’ Park is one he describes as “very difficult” – hardly surprising given he was the club captain that ended a 70 year wait for major silverware – he’s clearly enjoying the challenge of meeting Mikel Arteta’s demanding standards while getting to know his new teammates.
Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard, his main midfield partners, have made a particularly strong impression. Both were instrumental in last night’s 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich, with Rice crashing home a late equaliser after Odegaard’s exquisite pass had set up Eberechi Eze for the opener.
Speaking in the Allianz Arena mixed zone, [Guimaraes said of Rice](https://www.arsenal.com/news/bruno-on-bayern-draw-rice-partnership-and-more-aLlrO5J4s0Sf): “He’s so good, he’s an unbelievable player, unbelievable guy. He’s trying to help me a lot since my first day in the club.
“I think he can play like me as a 6, as an 8, as a 10, everywhere in the midfield. I think the manager is still trying to get the best version of ourselves.
“Today I played more as a 6, he played more as an 8. I enjoy playing with him a lot, with Martin as well, a top player and so good with the ball. The pass from him here today for Eze was an unbelievable pass. I think we’ve had a good run so far, we’ve been enjoying playing with each other.”
And with a nod to their past encounters, he added: “I was not nice to him \[Rice\] when we played against each other, he was not nice to me! But now we are nice to each other and try to help each other on the pitch. Now I’m trying to enjoy my new teammates.”
There have been some teething problems, with the defeat at Brighton exposing positioning issues between Rice and Guimaraes. Even so, the Brazilian has already shown what he can bring, including match-winning strikes against Sunderland and Leeds that have helped ease any lingering reservations about his arrival.
The next step is to produce that quality consistently as the understanding develops. Arteta’s expectations leave little room to get comfortable, and Guimaraes says the manager’s determination to improve his side is evident every day.
“I think now the mentality of the club has changed a lot. I think Arteta could do this perfectly. We don’t accept a draw here. We always want to win. That’s the mentality.
“We go to the training ground every day. He’s a little addicted to finding ways to make us better on the pitch. I think we have a top manager with a top mentality that we want to win everything possible.”
As introductions to life under Arteta go, being disappointed with a point away at Bayern Munich probably tells Guimaraes everything he needs to know.