Bruno Guimaraes has insisted he’s feeling better now after his early Arsenal injury issues and a ‘stop-start’ pre-season following the summer World Cup and his transfer move.
Bruno Guimaraes hasn’t had the ideal start to life with Arsenal on the fitness front, but he’s put in some impressive individual displays in his limited minutes so far.
If you told the midfielder he would have started his Arsenal career by winning the Community Shield, scoring a winner against Sunderland, playing in a Champions League victory over Napoli, and helping the team to a key victory away to Aston Villa, he surely would have taken that.
But the fact he’s only played 134 minutes over the first six matches of the season is less optimal.
Speaking to the media, Guimaraes admitted it hasn’t always been easy for him so far, but his fitness is improving after a couple of setbacks and a delayed pre-season.
“It has been a difficult start for me with two injuries,” Guimaraes said. “But now I am feeling okay now. I had a small problem in my ankle.
“Everyone knows how much I love to play. I have had setbacks. Sometimes it happens in life, the most important thing is to get to 100%. I did not have a very good pre-season because it was stop-start.”
Guimaraes’ directness is an obvious positive whenever he’s on the pitch. The midfielder wants to play forward, and he’s good at it. He’s also excellent under pressure, making him just what you want from a player in the middle at a club like Arsenal.
Off the ball, he’s up there with Arsenal’s Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi in terms of winning the ball back. So he has all the ingredients to succeed.
None of that will matter much if he’s playing less than a quarter of Arsenal’s minutes, but the hope is that the early injury problems were just a case of getting up to speed.
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