Details of the deal
Bruno Guimaraes did not have to wait until now to clearly express his intention to join Arsenal. Since July, the 28-year-old midfielder has informed Newcastle that he wants to join the Emirates Stadium team. Arsenal initially only wanted to pay 60 million pounds, but that number was not what Newcastle wanted.
In October 2023, Bruno Guimaraes signed a 5-year contract extension with Newcastle. At this time, he still had 2 years left on his contract with St. James' Park. A noteworthy point is that the contract had a release clause of £100 million but expired in June 2024 and was not reactivated.
When Bruno Guimaraes comes to Arsenal, this midfielder's old club, Lyon in France, will receive 20% of the profit from Newcastle. That number will be around 6-7 million pounds.
Last season, Bruno Guimaraes played 41 matches in all competitions. He scored 9 goals and had 8 assists, an impressive number for a deep midfielder. By the 2026 World Cup, the 28-year-old star started in all 5 matches of Selecao in the US and had 4 assists.
What will Bruno Guimaraes bring to Arsenal?
The ability to cover space and keep the ball in his feet are the strongest points of the Brazilian midfielder. Bruno Guimaraes is considered to have typical leadership qualities, not only in motivating his teammates. On the field, the 28-year-old star is the one who regulates the tempo when controlling the ball. He is also a lever for the stars above to confidently push up. With The Magpies, Bruno Guimaraes is no different from a launching pad for the entire squad as well as a long-range shield for the defense.
In the Premier League last season, no Newcastle player had more cross-line passes in each 90 minutes than Bruno Guimaraes (16.2). The remaining names in the Top 5 list are mainly defenders. A midfielder who is considered very good at this step is Sandro Tonali - Tottenham's new signing also only ranked 10th with an average of 10.9.
Bruno Guimaraes' ability to keep the ball at his feet is very good, evidenced by the number of passes when under high tackle pressure from opponents. Among midfielders in the top 5 European leagues, Bruno Guimaraes is in the Top 20 in terms of this index on average every 90 minutes (12).
Arsenal shows determination to complete the squad early
Arsenal's 5 key midfielders, Martin Odegaard (Norway), Declan Rice and Eberechi Eze (England), Martin Zubimendi and Mikel Merino (Spain) are all going deep at the 2026 World Cup. Except for Odegaard stopping in the quarterfinals, the remaining 4 have all reached the final stage with the third-place play-off and the final.
According to regulations, players will have 3 weeks of rest from the end of the World Cup campaign. Therefore, it is possible that the 4 players who reach the final stage will only gather before the penultimate friendly match in the pre-season stage (against Dortmund on August 9). The fact that key players cannot have a long enough preparation period for the new season will be the problem Mikel Arteta has to face. The time to have enough troops before the first round of the Premier League is too short, making preparation plans in the early season difficult to be as desired.
Bruno Guimaraes stopped with the Brazilian national team on July 5th in the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup. Therefore, he will have enough time to focus with his new team and fully experience the pre-season period.
With Bruno Guimaraes, Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi will be reduced in playing volume. Last season, this pair of Arsenal played 4,454 and 4,292 minutes in all competitions respectively. Until now, "Gunners" fans still do not understand why the Rice - Zubimendi pair can be so persistent and not get injured. Mikel Arteta understands that reality and does not want to take risks anymore, so he has quickly promoted the Guimaraes deal.
Last summer, Arsenal showed their ambition to succeed quickly, so they brought in players who are reaching their prime, Viktor Gyokeres and Eberechi Eze. This time, they continued to buy another player of similar age, who is playing very well in the Premier League to have more motivation to firmly stand at the top after the championship last season.
