LONDON, Aug 5 — Arsenal have stepped up talks with Newcastle in a bid to sign Brazil midfielder Bruno Guimaraes, according to reports yesterday.
The Premier League champions reportedly had a recent £70 million (US$93 million) offer rejected for Guimaraes, but are set to return with an improved offer.
Arsenal are keen on Newcastle captain Guimaraes after opting not to match Chelsea’s British record £117 million swoop for England forward Morgan Rogers.
Guimaraes, 28, scored nine goals and produced eight assists in all competitions for Newcastle last term.
Newcastle, who signed Guimaraes for £35 million from Lyon in 2022, are keen to avoid a repeat of the protracted transfer saga that ended with Alexander Isak joining Liverpool just before the transfer deadline last year.
Isak effectively went on strike, refusing to take part in Newcastle’s pre-season preparations 12 months ago, in a bid to force through his move to Anfield.
Eddie Howe, who quit as Newcastle manager last week, had admitted earlier in the close-season that he was concerned about losing Guimaraes.
After a holiday following Brazil’s World Cup last-16 defeat against Norway in July, Guimaraes has linked up with Newcastle on the club’s pre-season training camp in Spain.
But it looks increasingly unlikely he will be with the Magpies when they kick off their Premier League campaign at home to Liverpool on August 23.
Arsenal open their title defence against Coventry at the Emirates Stadium on August 21.
Gunners manager Mikel Arteta has not spoken publicly about his interest in Guimaraes, but said the club are “very active” and “very ambitious in what we want to do”.
“We need to increase the competition internally. We need to make sure we identify the things that we don’t have in the team,” he said. — AFP
