Bruno Guimaraes is the heartbeat of Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United side. Since signing for the club in the first transfer window following the club’s Saudi-led takeover five years ago, he has been their tempo-setter, a player of quality, emotion and ceaseless endeavour, who captained them to their first domestic trophy for 70 years.The midfielder represents everything good about the modern Newcastle. They might not win every game he plays, but they barely win without him. In the Premier League, there have only been two victories in the 19 matches he has failed to start since his full debut in March 2022. He is the team’s metronome, their dynamo, their talisman. Their Bruno.And now Guimaraes wants out. As The Athletic reported on Wednesday, the 28-year-old has told Newcastle he wishes to join Arsenal, with the Premier League champions willing to pay up to £60million ($80.4m) to sign him. Newcastle do not wish to sell and insist there has been no direct contact between the clubs.Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali have already left Tyneside this summer, robbing Howe of two international-class players for a combined fee which could reach £170m. Those moves were telegraphed and expected, at least partially. Guimaraes, though, would be very different.How would Newcastle function without their pulse?Newcastle writers Chris Waugh and George Caulkin examine another headache Howe and Newcastle could do without…Where do things stand?On a precipice, some Newcastle supporters might argue. Over the course of the last 12 months, Newcastle have lost Alexander Isak, Kieran Trippier (who was released at the end of his contract), Gordon and Tonali, very fine players who were all fundamental to the club’s rebirth and sharp rise post-takeover.Guimaraes would make all that feel far more existential. He has been Mr Newcastle, the driver of the whole team, who runs himself to exhaustion and dons his (metaphorical) Superman cape in moments of peril. Without him… is the dream dying, the great project withering?Isak’s move to Liverpool last summer after effectively downing tools was a heartbreaker and season-wrecker, leaving Newcastle desperately scrabbling for replacements. It has informed their approach this time. The sales of Gordon to Barcelona and Tonali to Tottenham Hotspur were, by contrast, clinical and quick. Newcastle needed to be more effective sellers, doing it on their terms, and these departures were planned for.This is another drama that Eddie Howe and Newcastle could do without (Lluis Gene/Getty Images)Guimaraes leaving has not featured in Newcastle’s preparations for the transfer window and they have no desire for it to happen. They do not need it to happen, either. Gordon’s €80m (£68.3m, $91.5m) sale was needed in part because of the club’s position relative to UEFA’s spending rules, while Tonali going allows them to reinvest and overhaul Howe’s squad.It would be difficult to portray Guimaraes leaving as anything other than a hammer blow, although as things stand, this is premature. Arsenal are yet to make any approach to Newcastle and there is irritation at St James’ Park that their interest is playing out in public. Nor would they countenance selling Guimaraes, who has spoken to Howe recently, for £60m.Beyond Guimaraes, Newcastle have started to generate momentum on the incoming transfer front. Having been gazumped by Liverpool last month when they had an agreement in place for Victor Munoz, Newcastle have signed Bazoumana Toure, the 20-year-old winger, from Hoffenheim, and Sean Steur, the 18-year-old midfielder, from Ajax, having already acquired Ewen Jaouen, the goalkeeper, from Reims earlier in the summer.A fee in principle has also been agreed with Freiburg for Johan Manzambi, the Switzerland international midfielder who is their top summer target, and other deals are being negotiated, too.But, as promising as those additions are, they cannot temper the painful prospect of Guimaraes leaving.What is Guimaraes thinking?Newcastle’s No 39 is at the peak of his career. Brazil’s World Cup campaign was not a success, but Guimaraes started all five of his country’s fixtures and made four assists.His demand to leave comes in the wake of that woeful penalty miss against Norway and a wave of negative publicity in his homeland, but he is worthy of a grand stage and, if Isak and Gordon are good enough to join two of Europe’s biggest clubs, he is within his rights to believe he belongs in similar company.With Guimaraes turning 29 in November, he may also harbour legitimate concerns that if he does not secure a move to an elite club now, then he may never do so.Bruno Guimaraes reacts after his penalty against Norway is saved (Elsa/Getty Images)Then there is the question of finance. Tottenham were threatened with relegation last season, but Tonali’s move there will see the Italian significantly increase his salary because of the huge revenues the north London club reap from their world-class stadium and commercial operations. For now, Newcastle cannot get near what Spurs, Liverpool or Barcelona can pay. Arsenal would be an opportunity for Guimaraes to earn more and compete consistently for the biggest trophies.Guimaraes has considered leaving before. In 2023-24, senior figures at Newcastle persuaded him to give the club one more season before a £100m release clause in his contract kicked in. Manchester City were monitoring him then, but no club came close to triggering his clause — and Guimaraes was affected by that. He was left deflated that an elite club did not lodge a serious proposal to sign him, which played a part in Howe making him captain.The midfielder required lifting in that moment, and a similar mindset may at least partly be contributing to his present plea to depart. Guimaraes believes he is a top-class player, which he is, and the affirmation which comes from Arsenal looking to make a move for him may be appealing to that ego.What is the club thinking?Guimaraes has two years remaining on his contract (although, importantly, Newcastle retain an option to extend that by another 12 months, effectively making it three years) and, in an ideal world, the club would want him to stay longer, but there has been no movement on an extension.The Brazilian is already their top earner and, during a summer in which they have been trimming their wage bill and resetting their salary structure somewhat, offering him a further rise may prove problematic, especially given the compliance agreement they have reached with UEFA.It presents Newcastle with a dilemma; this would be the time to extract maximum value for a player of his age, but £60m is far from that and Guimaraes’ worth as a figurehead is incalculable. Newcastle are adamant that Guimaraes is “not for sale” but, as we found out last summer with Isak, that is subtly different to “he will not be sold”. There would be a tipping point whereby they would have to consider selling, though the figures it is being suggested Arsenal would be willing to pay would not even begin to tempt Newcastle to cash in.For now, there is little they can do given Arsenal’s refusal to engage. There has been no direct contact or official approach to Newcastle, only some form of communication via intermediaries, and so those at St James’ Park are not even entirely sure quite how “real” or otherwise this coquetry is.Do Arsenal really want Guimaraes to the point they will meet Newcastle’s sky-high demands? Or is this merely a hands-off admiration for now, one they are not willing to turn into a concrete bid unless they are given encouragement that a knock-down fee could be agreed?Will Mikel Arteta and Arsenal stump up the kind of cash Newcastle would demand for Bruno? (Glyn Kirk/Getty Images)But if this is an attempt to cause chaos and drive down the asking price, Newcastle sources insist it will not work. Isak’s departure was destabilising and very messy, but it is pointed out that it still brought the club a British-record fee of £125m. They got good money for him, just as they did for Gordon and Tonali, both of whom wanted to leave. David Hopkinson, the CEO, and Ross Wilson, the sporting director, are tough negotiators, and those inside the club insist the leadership team will not be bullied. If Tonali could command around £100m, then the expectation is a similar ballpark figure would be required to land Guimaraes.Crucially, nor do Newcastle insiders think that Guimaraes will behave like Isak, who refused to train and play for Howe’s team, obliterating his relationship with fans in the process. Time will tell if that conviction is well-placed, because sources also suggest that the only way Guimaraes will be able to extract himself from his Newcastle contract should Arsenal not properly engage is by “doing an Alex”.Regardless, he is also a leadership figure. “To have your captain unhappy or moody or just not the same would be a huge problem for us,” one source said, speaking anonymously to protect relationships. Even if Guimaraes stays, there will be after-effects from this episode, and the skipper will need to be managed delicately so that he is fully coaxed back around.There is also empathy from Newcastle towards Guimaraes. Howe understands why he would be enticed by Arsenal’s interest, while there are others at the club who question the advice the midfielder is receiving from those acting on his behalf.Yet, to reiterate, they do not regard this as a done deal. There is no clear sense of what will ultimately happen — which, to a large extent, depends on Arsenal — and Newcastle remain committed to him. He is vital, both on the pitch and in terms of what he represents.How would they replace him?With huge difficulty. At his best, Tonali was imperious, an indefatigable and skilful box-to-box midfielder with powerful anticipation, but he did not approach those heights last season. The end of his spell at Newcastle allows Lewis Miley, the club’s wildly talented academy graduate, to stake his claim for regular football. He is ready (they hope) to step up to be the No 6.Guimaraes is not just about skill set, his progressive ball-playing, and his quality on the ball. It is also about attitude and leadership. He has never been a shouter, but is a captain-by-example. Should he go, it would mean that Trippier, Guimaraes and Jamaal Lascelles, the three “captains” who lifted the Carabao Cup at Wembley last year, have all moved on. Newcastle would have a leadership deficit, something Howe is acutely aware of.Could this be the moment for Lewis Miley to step up? (George Wood/Getty Images)In a year or two, Steur may be an ideal successor for Guimaraes. Some insiders have compared the two players and perhaps the idea is for the teenager to learn from Guimaraes before the Brazilian could be permitted to leave in the future. But Steur is only 18 and requires a physical adaptation period to the Premier League; Howe has high hopes for the Dutchman, yet he is very much seen as a ‘project player’ and the club do not want to heap great expectations on to him in the short-to-medium term.Externally, an (attainable) like-for-like replacement for Guimaraes probably does not exist. There is a reason why Arsenal want Guimaraes — precisely because there are so few midfielders with his qualities. Those who do exist are likely to prove too expensive or simply would not want to join.As with every position, Newcastle have a list of potential alternatives they could pursue in that eventuality. Compatriots of Guimaraes, who have played in England before, are believed to be among them.Unlike the majority of their summer business, however, Newcastle cannot countenance replacing Guimaraes with a raw, inexperienced midfielder. A player in their mid-20s, or even older, would surely be required.For now, Newcastle are hopeful it will not come to that, as uncomfortable as this situation feels at the moment. Guimaraes is their captain and their talisman — and nobody inside the club wants him to leave.