Newcastle chief explains how Guimaraes convinced them to sell him to Arsenal – ‘We didn’t want to’ | OneFootball

Newcastle sporting director Ross Wilson has explained how Bruno Guimaraes got the club to sell him to Arsenal, though they “didn’t want to.”

After months of interest and a first bid being rejected, the Gunners are signing Guimaraes. The Brazilian midfielder will join the Premier League champions in a £75million deal from Newcastle.

They have already lost big names Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali this summer, and were trying desperately to keep hold of Guimares.

Sporting director Wilson has revealed that though they didn’t want to let him go, the midfielder’s demeanour helped to push him to Arsenal.

Quoted by Sky Sports (16:29, Friday, August 7), Wilson said: “We didn’t want to sell Bruno. It wasn’t in the plan to sell Bruno. None of us — or ownership — wanted to sell Bruno.

“He’s our captain, he was very, very important to us and the debate over his price — it’s a world-record fee for a player of his age.

“What we had to weigh up was, very respectfully from Bruno with his behaviour towards us, very emotionally as well, effectively told us he wanted to leave and move on.

“That doesn’t mean he can go but it certainly plays a part in what our thinking is when we hit a certain range of number. But there’s no part in saying it was part of our strategy and was in our thinking this summer — it wasn’t.

“But we have got to be flexible and react to things that happen. It might have been in our plan to sign one player but we didn’t get him so we move on to another. We can only be honest about that.”

Often, players force transfers by refusing to train and making a bad atmosphere at a club. Guimaraes has essentially got his club to sell by doing the opposite – being respectful and allowing them to make a decision, having told them of his desire.

Guimaraes transfer could have ramifications

The signing of Guimaraes at Arsenal could have ramifications, with potential midfield exits on the cards.

Reports have suggested there could be a knock-on effect for Martin Zubimendi, who new Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso is an admirer of.

Insider Si Phillips wrote: ‘I was told by a source that Xabi Alonso is a big fan of Martin Zubimendi and has communicated to Chelsea that he’s a player he likes and is of interest to him.

‘I’m NOT saying Chelsea are going for Zubimendi, but he is a player who’s been mentioned by Alonso.’