Guimaraes and Tonali next? Team-mates who became rivals after transfers | OneFootball

Newcastle’s midfield is being ripped apart – seemingly by a tug of war between two fierce rivals with their own transfer ambitions.

After Tottenham took Sandro Tonali away from them, it’s now Arsenal trying to sign Bruno Guimaraes. And it sounds like he wants out.

If Arsenal can agree a deal for Guimaraes, it’d lead to him lining up against his midfield team-mate of the past few seasons in one of English football’s biggest rivalries: the north London derby.

And it wouldn’t be the first time two team-mates have found themselves on either side of a dividing line after making their moves.

Thomas Vermaelen and Jan Vertonghen (Ajax to Arsenal and Tottenham)

By the time Jan Vertonghen made his senior debut for Ajax in the 2006-07 season, his compatriot Thomas Vermaelen was already a few years into his spell with the club.

They took their next step a few years apart from each other too, with both winding up in north London. Vermaelen joined Arsenal in 2009 and then Vertonghen – despite having the chance to follow suit – joined Tottenham in 2012.

It was the presence of Vermaelen at Arsenal that made Vertonghen think twice and choose Spurs instead.

“They had Vermaelen,” he reflected a year later. “I knew it would be very difficult for me to play in central defence if the captain and one of their best players plays there.”

Obviously, they remained team-mates at international level with Belgium.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Gerard Pique (Manchester United to Real Madrid and Barcelona)

Cristiano Ronaldo and Gerard Pique were protagonists of many an El Clasico over the years, but they had once been young teammates at Manchester United.

With Ronaldo being a much more established talent at the time, they only shared a pitch in 15 games as United players before Pique returned to Barcelona in 2008. A year later, Real Madrid broke the world transfer record on Ronaldo.

It worked out alright for them.

Chris Sutton and Tore Andre Flo (Chelsea to Celtic and Rangers)

Chelsea strikers Chris Sutton and Tore Andre Flo endured mixed fortunes in the 1999-00 season.

It was Sutton’s first at the club after joining from Blackburn Rovers, but he only scored once in the Premier League. In contrast, Flo was their top scorer.

Sutton secured an escape for Celtic in the summer of 2000, where he would rediscover some form in front of goal.

A few months later, Flo followed him to Glasgow – but in his case to sign for Rangers. Both strikers scored 11 times each in their first seasons in Scotland, but it was Sutton who ended up with a title winner’s medal.

Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen (Chelsea to Real Madrid and Barcelona)

Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen both became free agents when their Chelsea contracts expired in 2022.

The two defenders both decided to join one of La Liga’s two biggest clubs – but not the same one.

Rudiger joined Real Madrid, whereas Christensen signed for Barcelona.

Lovren, Lallana, Lambert and Shaw (Southampton to Liverpool (x3) and Man Utd)

Southampton were absolutely pillaged in the summer of 2014 after their top-half finish in the Premier League.

Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert all went to Liverpool, with varying degrees of subsequent success, while Luke Shaw made a then-record move for a teenager to Manchester United.

Shaw remains a United player to this day, long after the Liverpool exits of Lambert, Lallana and Lovren.

Mason Mount and Mateo Kovacic (Chelsea to Man Utd and Man City)

During Chelsea’s midfield rebuild in the summer of 2023, Mason Mount and Mateo Kovacic were both sent to Manchester to facilitate the record buy of Moises Caicedo.

But while Kovacic joined City for £25m, Mount went to United for more than twice as much.

Ironically, you could make a strong case that Kovacic’s move has worked out better. He won the Premier League in his first season and, thanks largely to Mount’s injury troubles, has more appearances to his name for the Manchester club he joined.

Roberto Gagliardini and Franck Kessie (Atalanta to Inter and AC Milan)

Atalanta began punching above their weight in Serie A over the second half of the 2010s and it led to their players being handpicked by the traditional bigger boys.

For example, in January 2017, Roberto Gagliardini was prised away by Inter Milan. Then, that summer, his midfield colleague Franck Kessie – seen as a bigger prize – also made San Siro his next home stadium, but by joining AC Milan.

Gaglardini and Kessie both went on to make more than 150 Serie A appearances for their new clubs.

Andreas Pereira and Chris Smalling (Manchester United to Lazio and Roma)

With Chris Smalling having seriously impressed on loan at Roma in the 2019-20 season, Man Utd decided to send another player to the Italian capital the following summer.

But Andreas Pereira’s next club was Lazio instead.

Although Smalling had made his Roma move permanent, the pair never faced off in a Rome Derby, since one or the other was unavailable for the two that season.

Unlike Smalling, Pereira didn’t convert his Italian switch into a permanent transfer.

Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez (Barcelona to Chelsea and Arsenal)

Leaving Barcelona isn’t an easy decision but it was one made by both Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez in the summer of 2014.

Sanchez signed for Fabregas’ former club Arsenal, but his midfield team-mate crossed enemy lines and became a new Chelsea player instead.

Both went on to win trophies in their first season. For Fabregas, it was the Premier League; for Sanchez, the FA Cup.

Fabio Cannavaro and Lilian Thuram (Juventus to Real Madrid and Barcelona)

Juventus’ demotion to Serie B in the wake of the Calciopoli scandal in 2006 was bound to lead to an exodus of players.

Two of their main defenders were about to become opponents in El Clasico, as Ballon d’Or winner Fabio Cannavaro followed Fabio Capello to Real Madrid but Lilian Thuram signed for Barcelona instead, along with Gianluca Zambrotta.

Cannavaro remained with Madrid until 2009, a year after Thuram had retired and Zambrotta had returned to Italy with AC Milan.

Wesley Sneijder and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Real Madrid to Inter and AC Milan)

Real Madrid were deprived of a Dutch duo in 2009, with Italy the destination for both Wesley Sneijder and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

Sneijder, who’d spent the past two seasons in Madrid, signed for Inter. Huntelaar, who’d only been there for six months, joined AC Milan.

The move worked out better for Sneijder, who was part of Inter’s Treble-winning campaign in his first season.

Huntelaar, in contrast, only lasted a year at San Siro.