Arsenal have stepped up their attempt to sign Bruno Guimarães by finally beginning formal transfer negotiations and making an opening offer, which Newcastle have rejected.
While executives at Arsenal believe Guimarães is worth a maximum of £70m – and a bid in that ballpark was rejected on Monday – Newcastle value their captain at around £80m.
Guimarães met Newcastle’s incoming manager, Matthias Jaissle, for the first time on Monday at the team’s pre-season training camp at La Manga after a post-World Cup holiday in Brazil.
If some sort of compromise seems likely given Arsenal – negotiating, initially, through intermediaries – have spent much of this summer in pursuit of a midfielder at the top of Mikel Arteta’s shopping list, Newcastle are under no pressure to sell. Indeed, having sold Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali to Barcelona and Tottenham respectively this summer, they would prefer to offer Jaissle the benefit of Guimarães’s talent and experience as he rebuilds the squad.