Arteta lands the midfielder he chased four years ago
It is done. Bruno Guimaraes has swapped Newcastle for Arsenal in a deal worth around 85 million euros. The Brazilian is a few weeks short of 29, and he lands in London carrying a reputation as one of the sharpest midfielders the Premier League has to offer.
The two clubs have circled each other before. Arsenal made their move back in 2022, when Guimaraes was still at Lyon. He picked Newcastle. This time the pull worked both ways, and Mikel Arteta finally got the player he wanted.
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Someone to spare Declan Rice
Rice is not short of company in the Arsenal engine room, but he ran himself into the ground last season. Sixty-nine games across every competition, then talk of nagging knocks during the World Cup. Arteta wanted a partner who could carry some of that weight and bring a different look to the first phase of play.
Guimaraes checks those boxes. Four and a half years at St James’ Park turned him into the full package, as comfortable snapping into a tackle as he is threading the pass that starts a break. He has 48 caps for Brazil and two World Cups behind him.
Newcastle wobble, Lyon smile
On Tyneside this stings. Sandro Tonali had already left for Tottenham, and now a second heartbeat of the midfield is gone. Fixing that area jumps straight to the top of the to-do list.
Spare a thought for the quiet winner. Lyon, who cashed in on the Brazilian when they sold him north, pocket a sell-on fee and a neat bonus they never had to lift a finger for.
Guimaraes, meanwhile, is not short on words. “I am your warrior, I will never give up,” he said in the Gunners’ announcement, a club still nursing the wound of a Champions League final defeat to PSG and hungry for a title on home soil.
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