Rumour Mongering: Liverpool Target Guimarães with Newcastle in Crisis

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The transfer chatter has Newcastle in a mini-crisis after failing to qualify for Europe and Liverpool, Arsenal, and Man City looking at Bruno Guimarães as a result.

When Manchester United upset local rivals City in the FA Cup final, they didn’t just deprive their more powerful, league-winning neighbours of a domestic double. Doing so also deprived Newcastle United of a spot in Europe.

Seventh-place Newcastle had been hoping—and rather expecting—that a victory by City would see the FA Cup’s European reward pass to the league, resulting in a reshuffle that would give then a Conference League placement.

Now that that hasn’t happened, though, there will be a need for player sales to balance the books. Or at least that’s what Spanish outlet AS claim, with a Brazil-centric story claiming it could be Bruno Guimarães as the big name sold.

There was chatter last summer the now 26-year-old had European football as a top priority—and that he had to be convinced to stick around at Newcastle for the 2023-24 season—which could also play a role in his availability.

As for his potential destinations, staying in England is said to be a priority for Guimarães, ruling out potential French and Spanish interest in the player, and it’s Liverpool, Arsenal, and omnipresent City claimed as possibilities.

For Arsenal, it’s a potential departure for Thomas Partey said to be fuelling interest, while Liverpool’s only real position of need in midfield is for a more defensive-minded player with Wataru Endo their only current established option.

For City, a disappointing debut season for Matheus Nunes is said to be the motivator for considering Guimarães, and while Spain is an odd source for all this chatter, given the talk last summer around the player it’s hardly a shock.