Arsenal open formal talks to sign Newcastle player

Arsenal have finally opened direct club-to-club talks with Newcastle United over the signing of Bruno Guimaraes, according to reports.

Gary Jacob reports for The Times that Arsenal have opened direct talks with Newcastle United to sign Bruno Guimaraes.

Up until this point, all contact between the two clubs had gone through intermediaries, with the Gunners indicating they’d be willing to offer around £60m.

Guimaraes reportedly wants to join Arsenal, and Jacob claims Newcastle will have a decision to make if the Gunners formally offer around £75m.

Jack Rosser and Simon Collings reported for The S*n on Tuesday morning that Arsenal had opened direct club-to-club talks with Newcastle, with Guimaraes hoping to join the Gunners before the start of the new season.

Newcastle’s official stance on the sale of Guimaraes has been that he’s not available for transfer, but it remains to be seen if that might change if Arsenal up their offer.

The midfielder has two years left on his deal and he’s 28 years old, so there’s little chance they’ll ever get more for him than from Arsenal now.

Previous reports have suggested that personal terms will be no issue for Arsenal, with Fabrizio Romano claiming there’s no doubt the Gunners already have an agreement in principle with the player.

Romano argued that Guimaraes wouldn’t have gone to Newcastle to ask for a transfer without reaching that agreement first.

The same report added that the player wants to live in London, he wants to work with Mikel Arteta, he wants to play in the Champions League, and he wants to win trophies.

Now it’s up to Arsenal to find a compromise with Newcastle, if possible.

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