Bruno Guimaraes has informed Newcastle United of his wish to leave St James’ Park and join Arsenal.The Premier League champions are stepping up their pursuit of the 28-year-old and have indicated a willingness to pay up to £60million for the midfielder.The Athletic reported in June that Arsenal had a verbal offer — worth below £60m — rebuffed.Newcastle insisted at the time that they would not entertain bids for Guimaraes. There has been no club-to-club contact so far and the north-east side are currently maintaining that position.Guimaraes has two years left on his contract, having signed a five-year extension in October 2023. That deal had a temporary £100m release clause inserted, but it expired in June 2024 without being exercised.Newcastle have already sold Anthony Gordon to Barcelona this summer for £69.3m ($93.2m) and Sandro Tonali has joined Tottenham Hotspur in a deal worth up to £100m.Guimaraes was a part of Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil squad at this summer’s World Cup, starting every match before they were eliminated by Norway in the last-16 and providing four assists.The midfielder has established himself as a key player for Newcastle since joining from Lyon in January 2022. He has made 153 Premier League appearances, scoring 30 times and recording 26 assists.The Brazilian was also part of the team which won the Carabao Cup in 2025. After that game, an emotional Guimaraes said: “This is my second home. We are making history. Some day, when I leave this club, I want the fans to sing my name the way they do to (Alan) Shearer.”Eddie Howe’s side admire Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara, who has been tracked long term, while The Athletic also reported that Auxerre’s Kevin Danois is among others being monitored. Newcastle will look to replace any midfielders that are sold this summer.‘Arsenal are determined to get their man’Analysis by Arsenal correspondent James McNicholasArsenal have been admirers of Bruno Guimaraes for some time, and it seems Mikel Arteta and Andrea Berta are determined to get their man this summer.Bruno would be a Premier League-ready option for Arteta’s midfield, able to feature as either a partner or alternative to Declan Rice. Given the demands on Rice over the last 12 months, an experienced addition to Arteta’s midfield options is arguably all the more necessary.At 28, Bruno would be at the older end of Arsenal’s recruitment range. With the club willing to listen to offers for the likes of Gabriel Jesus, Christian Norgaard and Leandro Trossard, perhaps Arsenal reason there is a need to offset those potential departures by introducing some leadership and experience.‘Losing Guimaraes would feel existential’Analysis by Newcastle correspondent Chris WaughIf Newcastle were to sell Guimaraes AND Sandro Tonali during the same summer, then they may as well just give up now.The optics that would send — for supporters and to current and prospective players — would be terrible and would compound what has already been a challenging off-season.Guimaraes is Newcastle captain, their talisman who he has an emotional bond with supporters. Remove him from the side and Newcastle lose their creative heartbeat and offensive purpose (as the statistics when he does not feature prove).With Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak having already left over the past 10 months and Tonali set to follow, Newcastle losing three of their best players is already hard enough for Eddie Howe to deal with. But were he to see Guimaraes depart too, even if the money on offer was exorbitant (which this proposal via an intermediary was not), then Howe would head into 2026-27 with an inexperienced and untested side.Rightly, Newcastle insist Guimaraes is not for sale and they have no intention of allowing the Brazil international to leave.Occasionally players can be invaluable to a team. Guimaraes is certainly that for Newcastle right now. Losing him, especially when no first-XI signings have arrived, would feel existential.Jul 8, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms