Arsenal are moving closer to completing a deal for Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes, as Mikel Arteta looks to build on the club’s Premier League title success. The Gunners won the league for the first time in 22 years last season and reached the Champions League final, where they were beaten by Paris St-Germain.
Arteta made clear after the title win that Arsenal would need to be ambitious to build on their success, and the club have backed him with the move for Guimaraes. The manager’s thoughts turned to taking Arsenal to a “different dimension” once the celebrations had finished. With the addition of the 28-year-old Brazilian, Arsenal’s aim of creating one of the best midfields in world football is a step closer.
Injury record and impact at Newcastle
Arsenal were plagued with injuries last season despite a £250m spend in the summer transfer window, and a player’s robustness has always been considered when making signings. The club played 63 games in all competitions last season and have revamped their medical department before the new campaign.
Christian Norgaard, who is set to move to Everton, was limited to just seven appearances and one start in the league last season after failing to win Arteta’s trust. That put heavy demands on Martin Zubimendi and Declan Rice, with Zubimendi dropping out of the side completely as the workload took its toll during the run-in.
Rice is returning from a World Cup campaign in which he helped England reach the semi-finals, having played the most minutes of any Arsenal outfield player last season. He has been carrying a hamstring issue, though rest is expected to have eased the problem. Guimaraes’ arrival should ensure no dip in quality when Arteta rotates his starting eleven.
Guimaraes has missed just 16 Premier League games since signing for Newcastle in 2022. Newcastle’s win percentage, points per game, average goals for and average goals against all suffer in the top flight when he is unavailable. Opta data shows Newcastle’s win percentage, points per game, average goals for and average goals against have been significantly higher when Guimaraes has featured, though this is from a larger sample size.
A natural leader for Arteta’s midfield
Arsenal have a leadership group that supports club captain Martin Odegaard, but Guimaraes brings a player who is a natural leader in his own right. He became Newcastle’s talisman during his time at St James’ Park, and his ability along with his connection to supporters will be another asset for Arteta.
Guimaraes was Newcastle’s top scorer in the league last season with nine goals, and he provided four assists for Brazil at the World Cup in his five starts. Despite missing six games with a hamstring injury towards the end of last season, he still ranked in the top five players across the league for defensive line-breaking passes and through balls. He also led the way at Newcastle for passes under high intensity pressure.
He is set to join a midfield already featuring Rice, Zubimendi, Odegaard, Eberechi Eze, Mikel Merino, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri, creating significant competition for places. Staff at Newcastle have described Guimaraes as an “inspirational” figure, and Arsenal and Arteta will hope he can have the same effect at Emirates Stadium.
