Newcastle United’s Bruno Guimaraes saga has created plenty of noise, but in the eyes of a Magpie insider, one key piece still appears to be missing.
According to the Telegraph’s Luke Edwards, Newcastle had still to receive any direct contact from Arsenal over a potential deal for the Brazilian midfielder by Friday afternoon, despite weeks of speculation around the club captain’s future.
“Newcastle United have, as of this afternoon, still had no contact with Arsenal over Bruno Guimaraes,” Edwards reported.
That means no formal bid, no club-to-club talks and not even an exploratory conversation about what a deal might look like, even though Bruno has reportedly already agreed personal terms with Arsenal for a five-year deal.
“No offers, no bids, no conversations to even ask about his availability or to explore what a deal could look like,” Edwards wrote.
The situation seems to be causing confusion because while Arsenal’s interest has not been so public, Bruno (through intermediaries and agents) went out and let everybody know that his wish and preference is to leave and join the Premier League champion.
Edwards, meanwhile, wrote that sources have described Arsenal’s approach as “very odd” given the amount of noise around the 28-year-old and the lack of a formal approach for his transfer.
“What is clear is that there is a huge gap between what Newcastle has been told, via intermediaries acting on their behalf, Arsenal would be willing to pay for Bruno, and NUFC’s valuation of their captain and most important player,” Edwards reported.
Newcastle keeps saying that Bruno is not for sale after already selling Anthony Gordon to Barcelona and Sandro Tonali to Tottenham.
If Arsenal truly wants Bruno, the next step is obvious, and they should make an official offer soon to finally allow Newcastle to say yes or no once and for all.
