Bruno Guimaraes: Arsenal 'preparing third bid' for Newcastle captain after £65m package rejected

Arsenal are reportedly preparing to submit a third bid to sign Newcastle United captain Bruno Guimaraes this summer.

Aware of interest from the Gunners, Guimaraes is understood to have informed Newcastle of his desire to leave the club and move to the Emirates Stadium.

Recent reports have claimed that the 28-year-old ‘souring’ on the prospect of staying at Newcastle having grown frustrated by the club’s direction following the sales of Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali.

While Gordon was sold to Barcelona for a reported £69m before the 2026 World Cup began, Tonali was confirmed as Tottenham Hotspur’s club-record signing earlier this week, joining for £100m.

The Magpies’ decision to sell both players comes around 12 months after they generated £125m from the club-record sale of Alexander Isak to Liverpool following a drawn-out transfer saga.

After failing to qualify for European competition, with Newcastle ending the 2025-26 season down in 12th place in the Premier League table, Eddie Howe’s side appear to be struggling to keep hold of their best players, and Guimaraes is the latest star ready to depart.

Arsenal offers between £65m and £90m could ‘accelerate’ Guimaraes talks

According to journalist Fabrizio Romano, Arsenal have already seen a £55m opening offer for Guimaraes rejected and a second approach - a £65m transfer package - turned down by Newcastle.

The Gunners are now said to be preparing a new official bid, with A fee between £65m and £90m believed to be enough to help accelerate talks.

While Mikel Arteta is ‘pushing’ to sign Guimaraes, Arsenal are not prepared to pay over the odds for a player who turns 29 in November and has just under two years remaining on his contract at St James’ Park.

Guimaraes himself has made it clear that he wants to join Arsenal, but the midfielder will not ‘create issues’ with Newcastle and will leave the decision in the club’s hands.

Newcastle’s stance over Guimaraes has been consistent all summer; they have no interest in selling their captain and will not welcome any offers.

Newcastle in danger of losing influential star Guimaraes this summer

Guimaraes arrived at Newcastle in January 2022 from Lyon for what was then a club-record £40m and was one of the club’s first statement signings under the Saudi-backed owners.

The Brazil international has since established himself as one of the Premier League’s best midfielders, recording 31 goals and 32 assists in 195 appearances for the Magpies across all competitions.

Prior to last season, Newcastle finished no lower than seventh in the Premier League across three campaign and qualified for the Champions League on two occasions, with Guimaraes regarded as a hugely influential midfielder in the senior side.

Guimaraes also helped the club end their 70-year trophy drought in 2025 when they lifted the EFL Cup, captaining the Magpies in their 2-1 victory over Liverpool in the final at Wembley.

Should Guimaraes complete a high-profile switch to Arsenal, he would complete with Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard, Eberechi Eze, Martin Zubimendi, Mikel Merino, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Christian Norgaard for starts in midfield.