ARSENAL AGREE TO BUY BRUNO GUIMARAES FOR MILLIONS LESS THAN NEWCASTLE WANTED
Arsenal have agreed a fee of about £75m to sign Bruno Guimarães from Newcastle.
The agreement of a fee will bring to an end another painful transfer saga for Newcastle, who went into the summer window insisting it would take a ridiculous offer to persuade them to sell their most important player.
That position has taken a battering, with super agent Kia Joorabchian brought in by the Brazil international to help negotiate a deal. In June, Guimarães had informed former manager Eddie Howe he was desperate to leave.
As revealed by Telegraph Sport last week, one of the major factors behind Howe’s decision to quit was Guimarães’ impending departure.
As soon as Howe left, Newcastle realised their last hope of talking Bruno out of a move had vanished and they began talks with Arsenal on Sunday. Telegraph Sport understands the Tyneside club have lined up an experienced replacement for Guimarães.
Club officials insist the fee they have received for the Brazilian is an excellent deal given there was only one club interested in a player who will turn 29 later this year.
However, Newcastle officials had initially priced their most important player at about £100m and Arsenal will feel their tactics – leaving Joorabchian to “soften” Newcastle up so they were forced to sell – have shaved tens of millions off the fee.
Arsenal had been led to believe they could sign Guimarães for as little as £50m and that is thought to be where negotiations with Joorabchian started.
The sale of their best player weakens Newcastle, but with Matthias Jaissle’s appointment as the new manager expected to be confirmed later on Wednesday, resolving the Guimarães saga was important so he could start with a clean slate.
The former Lyon player, who signed for Newcastle for £35m in January 2022, arrived at Newcastle’s pre-season training camp in Spain on Monday and informed the club he still wanted to leave.
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2026-08-05T07:25:41Z
