Newcastle United deny intent to sell Guimaraes amid Arsenal transfer speculation
Newcastle United sporting director Ross Wilson has stated the club did not wish to sell captain Bruno Guimaraes, despite reports that Arsenal had agreed a £75 million ($101 million) deal for the midfielder. Wilson confirmed that Guimaraes had expressed a desire to leave, necessitating a flexible response from the club. Neither club has officially confirmed the transfer. The potential exit follows the recent departures of Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali, and manager Eddie Howe.
Newcastle United sporting director Ross Wilson has firmly stated that the club did not intend to sell captain Bruno Guimaraes, contradicting reports that Arsenal had finalised a £75 million ($101 million) agreement for the Brazilian midfielder. Speaking at the club’s pre-season training camp in Spain, Wilson clarified that the potential transfer was not part of the organisation’s strategic planning.
“We didn’t want to sell Bruno. It wasn’t in the plan to sell Bruno. None of us – or ownership – wanted to sell Bruno,” Wilson told reporters. He emphasised that while the reported fee would constitute a world-record for a player of Guimaraes’s age, the club’s primary objective had been to retain its leadership core.
However, Wilson acknowledged that the situation required a pragmatic adjustment in policy. He confirmed that Guimaraes had communicated a clear desire to leave the club, describing the midfielder’s conduct as “very emotionally” driven. “What we had to weigh up was, very respectfully from Bruno with his behaviour towards us, very emotionally as well, effectively told us he wanted to leave and move on,” Wilson said.
The 28-year-old midfielder joined Newcastle from Olympique Lyonnais in January 2022 and has since made 195 appearances, scoring 31 goals. His tenure included captaining the side to League Cup glory in 2025, a significant milestone that ended the club’s long wait for domestic silverware. Despite this success, the sporting director noted that the club must remain flexible in response to player demands.
Wilson described the potential departure as a setback for a club already undergoing significant structural changes. The exit would follow the recent loss of manager Eddie Howe, who stepped down following a pre-season defeat to Bristol City, as well as the transfers of Anthony Gordon to Barcelona and Sandro Tonali to Tottenham Hotspur. To bolster the squad, Newcastle have signed five players this summer: Lukas Hornicek, Ewen Jaouen, Aladji Bamba, Sean Steur, and Bazoumana Toure.
Matthias Jaissle has been appointed as the new head coach, succeeding Howe. The club is now preparing for the start of the Premier League campaign, with their opening match scheduled against Liverpool on August 23. Neither Newcastle United nor Arsenal has officially confirmed the transfer details.
