Arsenal near £75m deal for Newcastle captain as deadline day looms

Arsenal and Newcastle United have settled on a fee in the region of £75 million for club captain Bruno Guimarães, and the Brazilian midfielder has been cleared to undergo a medical ahead of the transfer deadline on 1 September. Newcastle originally rejected Arsenal’s first bid, insisting on retaining the 27-year-old who joined from Lyon in 2022 and has logged 195 appearances. The potential departure leaves manager Eddie Howe under pressure to secure a midfield replacement.

For Arteta, securing Guimarães would address a lack of deep-lying play-makers that has hampered Arsenal’s early-season plans, and the club reportedly has Alex Scott and Manu Koné on standby should the deal fall through. The transaction is the latest high-profile move of a deadline-day window that also saw Anthony Gordon head to Barcelona, Sandro Tonali move to Tottenham, and other clubs like Manchester City and Tottenham adjusting their squads ahead of the new campaign.