Arsenal agree £75m fee with Newcastle for Bruno Guimarães as clubs reach compromise

Real Madrid would demand €150m for Vinicius Junior

Arsenal's initial bid for Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes was rejected. Pic: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire.

Bruno Guimarães is set to leave Newcastle’s pre-season training camp in southern Spain and fly to London before a £75m move to Arsenal. The out-going Newcastle captain is scheduled to undergo a medical in north London in the next couple of days after the two clubs finally compromised on the fee.

While Arsenal had initially wanted to pay no more than £60m for the Brazil midfielder, who turns 29 in November and has two years remaining on his contract, Newcastle demanded a minimum of £80m.

Having sold Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali to Barcelona and Tottenham respectively earlier this summer, Newcastle had no need to sell Guimarães and would have preferred to keep a key player who was integral to their 2025 League Cup triumph.

Since the Brazilian’s arrival from Lyon in January 2022, Newcastle have struggled to win games without Guimarães on the pitch. In his 153 League appearances he scored 30 goals, contributed 26 assists and, as Eddie Howe’s former team twice qualified for the Champions League, became an enduring crowd favourite. The loss of Guimarães is likely to hit Newcastle fans appreciably harder than even Alexander Isak’s defection to Liverpool last year.

Guimarães though was determined to join Arsenal even before Howe stepped down as manager last week. He flew to La Manga to meet the club’s in-coming manager, Matthias Jaissle on Monday but is understood to have told Jaissle he wanted out and could not be persuaded otherwise. The parting is believed to have been cordial and in marked contrast to Isak’s acrimonious exit last summer.

Lyon will receive a windfall in the region of £7m due to a sell on clause that stipulates they are entitled to 20% of any profit Newcastle make on the sale of Guimarães.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid would demand a transfer fee of €150m for Vinicius Junior, according to ESPN.

The Brazil winger has been heavily linked with Arsenal, with talks over a new deal at the Bernabeu stalling.

Crystal Palace are in advanced talks to sign teenage American wing-back Zavier Gozo from Real Salt Lake, The Athletic is reporting.

Fulham have made a revised £25million offer for Southampton midfielder Shea Charles, according to the Daily Mail. Fulham saw a first bid for the Northern Ireland international rejected but have reportedly come back with an improved offer, including add-ons.

Guardian