Bruno Guimarães asking price ‘revealed’ as Arsenal target Newcastle skipper

Bruno Guimarães has reportedly dropped the bombshell that he wants to leave Newcastle United and move to Arsenal.

Losing Bruno would be a devastating hammer blow regardless of where he ended up, but to see him move to Arsenal would go down like a lead balloon.

Reports suggest that Guimarães will not agitate for a move if the two clubs cannot agree on a deal, as he doesn't want to tarnish his reputation at Newcastle.

Bruno has become a club legend in his four years on Tyneside, but demanding a move would certainly damage that legacy. So too would moving to Arsenal for a lot of fans. Even if he left on the best of terms, going to a Premier League rival would probably turn a chunk of the fanbase against him.

Craig Hope says Newcastle will deal at £75m

Arsenal are believed to be ready to pay up to £60 million for Guimarães, but Newcastle value him at closer to £100 million given his worth to the club as captain and the status he holds amongst fans and indeed in the dressing room.

However, Craig Hope has reported for the Daily Mail that sources have claimed that £75 million could be enough to get a deal done.

Arsenal are yet to formally approach Newcastle, but after receiving this encouragement, it's likely only a matter of time.

£75m for a 28-year-old would be good business, but ...

On one hand, £75 million for a player approaching 29 would be amazing business. We griped so much when we paid £55 million for Yoane Wissa, who turned 29 shortly after, so to get an extra £20 million on top of that would be great business, financially.

However, the big problem is that we'd need to spend that much just to stand any chance of replacing him this summer.

With the planned exits of Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali, there was already a plan in place to replace them with young up-and-coming players who can be moulded into stars, but losing Bruno too would mean we'd have to change strategy.

We can't rely entirely on these young players. They need someone experienced to look up to, and Bruno would have been that mentor as the new kids were groomed to replace him eventually.

Newcastle will have to break their new transfer rule if Bruno were to leave, as we'd need someone with Bruno's level of experience and skill to fill the void. We're never going to get a like-for-like replacement, but we will need an older head to balance the squad after we sign all these young players.