The Gunners have ignited the transfer market by testing Newcastle’s resolve with an opening offer as the Brazilian star pushes for a move to North London.
The Arsenal and Bruno Guimaraes saga has entered yet another week.
The Premier League kicks off in just 18 days and Arsenal remain locked in a standoff with Newcastle, with the signing of the Magpies captain now a case of ‘when’ and not ‘if.’
Arsenal will kickstart the 2026/27 Premier League campaign with a fixture at Emirates Stadium against newly promoted Coventry City and The Gunners will no doubt want to have the saga wrapped up by then with hopes that the Brazilian could make his Arsenal debut in the fixture.
Arsenal have shown interest in the Brazilian for what feels like weeks, but reports of a bid or even any ‘formal’ talks between the two clubs had been few and far between. This has now all seemingly changed. Newcastle United recently announced that former manager Eddie Howe had resigned which looked to play in the Gunners’ hands. Reports of the central midfielder even having a medical booked today look to have been wide of the mark, but the saga seems to be coming to its slow conclusion after reports this afternoon.
Newcastle are currently at La Manga in Murcia, Spain for a pre-season camp. Bruno G was supposed to meet up with the squad and new manager Matthias Jaissle at the training camp yesterday, 2nd August. It has since materialised that he never travelled as he was supposed to, though it is believed that he will be flying out today, where he is set to re-iterate his desire to leave the club this summer and join Arsenal.
Further reports coming out today suggest that Arsenal have now submitted a formal bid to Newcastle United for the 28 year-old which has been rejected. According to Newcastle sources, their stance remains the same. They do not want to sell. Despite this, the fact that the player wants to leave is thought to be enough in itself. Coupled with a bid of between £75m-£80m, it is a tough prospect for Newcastle to turn down.
Bruno G battles with his potential new captain Martin Odegaard as Norway run out 2-1 against Brazil at the World Cup (IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters)Guimaraes scored 9 goals and provided 6 assists across 2640 Premier League minutes last season. Coupled with an extremely positive World Cup campaign personally, the thought of pairing him in a midfield with Declan Rice is something that really excites the large majority of Arsenal fans ahead of the club's title defence season.
Despite limited knowledge from any sources, it seems that the saga is only heading in one direction with everything pointing towards Bruno Guimaraes becoming an Arsenal player very shortly. Arsenal fly out to Dublin tomorrow, ahead of their second pre-season friendly where they will face more Spanish opposition in the form of Real Betis.
There had been some reports that Guimaraes may even join Arsenal out in Dublin, but again, these reports seem to be largely wide of the mark for where the deal is at.
Arsenal beat Girona 1-4 in a recent pre-season friendly with minutes under the belt for several key players. Arsenal will hope to add Guimaraes to the list of players playing some minutes in pre-season in preparation for a gruelling upcoming campaign.
