Newcastle reject opening bid from Arsenal for Bruno Guimaraes
By David Charlesworth, Press Association
Arsenal’s first bid for Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes has been rejected, the Press Association understands.
Speculation about the Brazil midfielder joining the Gunners has reached a fever pitch and direct lines of communication have now been opened between the Premier League champions and managerless Newcastle.
It is understood there is still some distance between the parties in the valuation of a player who has scored 31 goals in 195 matches for Newcastle since joining from Lyon for £40million in January 2022.
However, an opening offer being rebuffed seems unlikely to deter Arsenal, especially as Guimaraes has indicated he wants to swap St James’ Park for the Emirates Stadium this summer.
Having already lost Anthony Gordon to Barcelona and Sandro Tonali to Premier League rivals Tottenham, Newcastle are loath to see another first-choice star walk out of the door.
They are still counting the cost of Alexander Isak’s protracted move to Liverpool last summer and know their hands may be tied if Guimaraes is set on departing, although they would only give the transfer a green light if their terms were met.
A repeat of the Isak saga, in which the Swede went on strike to force through a British record switch to Anfield, appears unlikely, with Guimaraes due to meet up with his Newcastle team-mates at a pre-season training camp in La Manga on Monday.
He was due to join the rest of the squad on Sunday, having had an extended break after playing for Brazil at the World Cup, although the club were happy for him to arrive 24 hours later.
Lukas Hornicek on Monday became Newcastle’s fifth summer signing, joining fellow goalkeeper Ewen Jaouen, winger Bazoumana Toure and midfield pair Sean Steur and Aladji Bamba in a summer of upheaval.
They are without a head coach following Eddie Howe’s departure on Friday although they are understood to be close to appointing German Matthias Jaissle as his successor.
