Bruno Guimaraes headed to Arsenal as Newcastle agree fee for $100M Brazilian maestro

Newcastle United captain Bruno Guimaraes is leaving the Magpies for the Premier League champions after Arsenal agreed a reported $100 million deal for the Brazil star.

Reports say Guimaraes has left Newcastle camp in Spain for a medical with the Gunners.

MORE — Guimaraes move a statement of intent from Arsenal

Guimaraes turns 29 in November and leaves Newcastle as perhaps their most important player since the departure of Alan Shearer. He had expressed interest in a move to Arsenal after the Magpies failed to seal a return to European football last season.

His 31 goals and 32 assists in 195 appearances hardly tell the story of a midfielder who can play anywhere from the 6 up to the 10 and held a talismanic stature in the club, captaining them to a League Cup win that ended decades of silverware frustration.

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For Arsenal, it’s a statement of intent after losing the midfield battle and then some in their Champions League Final loss to PSG, where Mikel Arteta’s men were limited to 25% possession and lost in penalties. The Gunners can now deploy a midfield three of Guimaraes, Declan Rice, and Martin Odegaard, with Mikel Merino, Martin Zubimendi, and Myles Lews-Skelly bringing absurd depth to the side.

What does Bruno Guimaraes transfer mean for Arsenal, Newcastle

There have been reports that Newcastle already know where they’d go for a proven Guimaraes replacement who would mitigate the damage of losing one of the very best and most complete midfielders in the world. Make no mistake: Newcastle lost Guimaraes with their second half of the season, going 2W-6L as he missed eight games through injury and the club could not figure out a solution.

They had better. The Magpies midfield had bailed them out of so many jams and kept them in games while their front three weren’t firing last season. With just young players in the fold to replace Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali, the Magpies look set to be comfortably bottom half this season.

This feels as consequential to two Premier League teams as any move since, well, Arsenal took Declan Rice off West Ham United.

Arsenal are not leaving anything to chance when it comes to competing on all front. There was a period of time where the Gunners would not spend much — let alone $100 million — on a player who will be 30 at the start of next season.

Instead, they are living as a team that knows it’s in a window where they can win every competition. And Arteta, in theory, has told his bosses what it would take for him to feel better about playing braver against tough opposition. With this move, Arsenal can make a strong argument to be favorites in any competition.

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