Arsenal and Man City in transfer fight over £100m Newcastle United star
He has a £100m release clause.
Arsenal and Manchester City are set to fight over Newcastle United star Bruno Guimaraes in the upcoming summer transfer window, according to reports.
Guimaraes has a release clause worth around £100m in his current Newcastle contract, although interested clubs may try to strike a deal at a lower price.
Newcastle may have to sell some players to comply with profit and sustainability rules (PSR), their chief executive Darren Eales admitted earlier this year.
That has seen Arsenal register an interest in Newcastle striker Alexander Isak but they are now looking to poach Guimaraes too, The Telegraph have reported.
That bad news for Arsenal is that fellow Premier League heavyweights City are also keen on Guimaraes, who has impressed since joining the Magpies in 2022.
Arsenal and City battled it out to sign Declan Rice last summer, with the north Londoners beating Pep Guardiola’s side to his signature.
Guimaraes is aware of the interest from Arsenal and City while the 26-year-old central midfielder has also been linked to French champions Paris-Saint Germain.
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe was quizzed about the Brazil international’s future earlier this month and said: ‘My intention would be to keep Bruno for as long as we possibly can… But I can never make guarantees.
‘That would be absolutely foolish of me. I’ve been in football long enough to know you never know what is going to happen tomorrow.
‘But he is an integral part of the team and [he is] playing really well at the moment.
Guardiola: Guimaraes is 'exceptional'
Man City boss Pep Guardiola hailed Bruno Guimaraes last month and described him as as ‘exceptional’ player.
‘He is an exceptional holding midfielder,’ Guardiola said. ‘He is aggressive, with the ball or without the ball.
‘At set pieces, he’s aggressive and is a real, complete holding midfielder since being at Lyon and now at a club who want to grow up and up.’
‘A lot will depend on our ambitions and where the club is going in the foreseeable future.’
Arsenal are keen for midfield reinforcements at the end of the season amid big question marks over the futures of both Thomas Partey and Jorginho.
It is thought that Arsenal will try to offload Partey to a team in the Saudi Pro League while Jorginho’s current deal is set to expire in just over two months.
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