Newcastle reject Arsenal’s first official bid for Bruno Guimaraes

Newcastle United have rejected Arsenal’s first bid for Bruno Guimaraes after the two clubs opened direct talks for the Brazil international. The i Paper can reveal that the offer for Guimaraes fell significantly short of Newcastle’s asking price, which is in excess of £80m. Arsenal remain at the table, however, and it is anticipated that further bids will be made for the Newcastle captain, who is keen to move to north London. So far all negotiations have taken place between third parties, with Guimaraes’ representatives talking informally with Newcastle sources. But Arsenal have stepped up those discussions, even if the first offer is short of the Magpies’ asking price. Guimaraes touched down in Spain on Monday morning on a pre-agreed travel plan with Newcastle. He is due to report to the club’s training base in La Manga and sources have stressed that he has done everything that Newcastle asked of him. He was due for “assessments” this morning after his exertions with Brazil in the World Cup but that may be overtaken by events. While Guimaraes is keen for the move there has been no repeat of the scenes last summer when Alexander Isak effectively went on strike and refused to join up with Newcastle for their pre-season tour. But it appears increasingly likely that Guimaraes will depart this summer, making him the third big name departure after Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon. Newcastle have also made five signings but there’s an internal acknowledgement that if Guimaraes leaves, they will need to sign someone who has senior experience to support the work of incoming coach Matthias Jaissle. The i Paper understands that Newcastle are working on bringing in another midfielder and that if Guimaraes leaves they intend to invest the fees recouped to bring in a player with experience but who is likely to be a younger age profile that Guimaraes. Porto’s Victor Froholdt is one player that Newcastle like but there are understood to be other options being considered by sporting director Ross Wilson. Newcastle expect to confirm Jaissle as their new manager on Monday afternoon and the German is in La Manga ahead of a week-long training camp in Spain.