Arsenal reach Bruno Guimaraes transfer agreement: €90m Newcastle deal in final stages

Bruno Guimaraes is on the verge of becoming Arsenal's marquee summer signing. His move from Newcastle is understood to be in its final stages, with the two clubs having reached an agreement in principle for a transfer worth €90m (£77m). Add-ons are expected to be included, though those details have not been settled yet. The 28-year-old Brazil international has spent much of the summer pushing to join the Emirates club. He has grown unhappy at Newcastle following the club's failure to qualify for the Champions League. The Magpies have consistently denied wanting to sell, but Eddie Howe's decision to quit on Thursday was seen as a sign that the situation was about to move quickly. According to L'Equipe, Newcastle rejected earlier bids of around €70m and €80m before accepting a structure based on €90m. The St James' Park club will also send around €8m to Lyon as part of the agreement reached when Guimaraes arrived at the French club in January 2020. Arsenal had looked at Mateus Fernandes, Alex Scott and Sandro Tonali in the early weeks of the window, but Guimaraes quickly became the priority. Regarded as one of the best midfielders in world football, he would give Arteta's squad extra quality and leadership as they look to keep pushing at the top of the Premier League. Mikel Arteta has made it clear the club is still working to strengthen before the end of Deadline Day. "A lot is happening," he told Arsenal.com. "We all know about the context of this transfer window. From ownership to the board, the sporting director and myself, we know that we want to take this club to a different level. That is going to require a better squad, better individuals." "We have identified where we have opportunities to grow and to improve and to evolve our game and what is going to be needed to achieve that. Hopefully very soon we can start to put things in a very concrete way." He added: "This has to be the start and this has to be the standard. Excellence has to be our standard and this has to drive to attack the future. Now we have to show that we belong to this level and we want to increase and take this football club to a different dimension."