Arsenal Near £80m Deal for Bruno Guimaraes

Arsenal are closing the net around Bruno Guimaraes in a deal that underlines exactly where the Premier League champions see themselves now: on top, and determined to stay there.

The Gunners have agreed a package worth around £75million with Newcastle for the Brazil midfielder, a fee that could climb towards £80m with add-ons. It is the sort of money reserved for players expected to walk straight into the spine of a title-winning side, not just pad out the squad.

Guimaraes, fresh from a post-World Cup break, had only just joined up with Newcastle’s pre-season camp in Spain on Monday after flying in from Brazil. He is now expected to cut that stay short and head back to the UK to complete his medical and finalise the move.

A four-year contract is in place, running until the summer of 2030. Guimaraes has already spoken with Mikel Arteta, a manager who has admired him for a long time but is refusing to be drawn into public celebration until the ink is dry.

“I’m not going to talk about any players who aren’t Arsenal players,” Arteta said when pressed after Wednesday night’s 3-1 friendly defeat by Real Betis in Dublin. The question came again, this time about the lift a signing of Guimaraes’ stature would give his squad.

His answer did not budge. “Well, I can tell you at the moment that something happens and we can announce it. I will give you my straight answer.”

For now, the straight answer is in the numbers. Guimaraes will be Arsenal’s fourth signing of the summer window, another heavyweight piece in a squad being quietly but aggressively upgraded.

• Christos Tzolis arrived from Club Brugge for £34m to add direct running and goals from wide areas.
• Illan Meslier came through the door on a free after leaving Leeds, bolstering competition in goal.
• The club also exercised their option on Piero Hincapie, turning the versatile Ecuador defender’s loan from Bayer Leverkusen into a permanent transfer for around £34.5m.

Guimaraes is different again. A metronome, a controller, a player who can quicken or slow the game with a touch. Arsenal are paying for influence as much as for talent.

And they may not be done with Brazil.

The champions are ready to test the waters for Guimaraes’ international team-mate Vinicius Jr in what would be the most audacious transfer move in the club’s history. The Real Madrid forward is into the final 12 months of his contract at the Bernabeu, a situation that would usually send every major club circling.

Madrid, though, have moved to shut that door. Crunch talks on Wednesday between the club and the player’s representatives are understood to have gone well, with the LaLiga giants and head coach Jose Mourinho now confident that Vinicius Jr will sign a lucrative extension to stay in Spain.

That belief does not change the signal Arsenal are sending by even positioning themselves for such a possibility. This is a club behaving like champions, acting in markets they once only watched from a distance.

Inside the dressing room, the message is clear. Riccardo Calafiori, speaking after the defeat to Betis, did not hide what he feels Arsenal now require to push on from last season’s title triumph.

“We are on that level now. We are on top,” the Italian defender told reporters in Dublin. “We want to win the league again and we want to be even better than last season if we can. We need these kind of players, I think.”

Guimaraes is exactly that kind of player. A midfielder in his prime, hardened by the Premier League, comfortable under pressure, and ambitious enough to swap the comfort of a starring role at Newcastle for the expectation that comes with defending a title in north London.

The champions have already moved decisively in this window. With Guimaraes almost in the door and eyes still glancing towards Vinicius Jr, the question now is not whether Arsenal are building to stay at the summit, but how far they intend to stretch the gap to everyone else.