Newcastle United Sporting Director Ross Wilson says the club did not want to sell midfielder Bruno Guimaraes despite his move to Premier League champions Arsenal.
The 28-year-old Brazil international has reportedly joined Arsenal in a deal worth $100 million, with the transfer confirmed on Saturday, August 8.
Guimaraes, who captained Newcastle during the 2025 to 2026 season, has been at the centre of one of the biggest transfer stories of the summer, with Manchester United also reportedly interested in the former Olympique Lyonnais midfielder.
Speaking to reporters during Newcastle’s pre-season camp in Spain, Wilson insisted that the club wanted to keep Guimaraes but ultimately accepted the transfer.
“We didn’t want to sell Bruno. It wasn’t in the plan to sell Bruno. None of us — or ownership — wanted to sell Bruno.”
Bruno Guimaraes signs for Arsenal (Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
“He’s our captain, he was very important to us, and the debate over his price — it’s a world-record fee for a player of his age.”
Brazil’s midfielder Bruno Guimaraes (L) kicks the ball during the international football friendly match between Japan and Brazil (Photo by YUICHI YAMAZAKI/AFP via Getty Images)
“What we had to weigh up was, very respectfully from Bruno with his behaviour towards us, very emotionally as well, effectively told us he wanted to leave and move on” Wilson said.
