Talks imminent: Arsenal officials meeting at 5pm today to "discuss next steps" on Bruno Guimaraes transfer | OneFootball

Arsenal officials will reportedly meet in the next hour to discuss the next steps in the Bruno Guimaraes transfer pursuit.

The Gunners seem to have failed with an initial approach for the Brazil international, according to the Athletic’s David Ornstein.

However, another X account run by multiple journalists has replied to Ornstein’s post saying there will be further talks over this potential deal at 5pm today, which is just under an hour away at the time of writing.

Guimaraes has been a key player for Newcastle, so obviously won’t come cheap, with Ornstein insisting that there is no chance of the 28-year-old moving for £60m…

Newcastle have lost some key players in recent times, with Alexander Isak moving to Liverpool last summer, while Anthony Gordon has already made the move to Barcelona this year.

Guimaraes may be another who’s keen for a new challenge, but one also imagines Newcastle will do their best not to lose more big names without a fight.

How much should Arsenal pay for Bruno Guimaraes?

Arsenal could probably do with more depth in midfield, but it’s not exactly an emergency issue for Mikel Arteta right now.

The north London giants already have Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi, Myles Lewis-Skelly, and Christian Norgaard as solid options in that area of their squad.

At the same time, however, there’s surely a high chance of Norgaard leaving after barely getting any playing time in the season just gone, with Arteta perhaps just not trusting him enough.

Guimaraes would surely be a significant upgrade, and would therefore allow AFC to rotate more and allow the likes of Rice and Zubimendi more opportunities to rest after playing so much football in the last year or so.

Still, paying more than £60m for that kind of player seems like a lot, especially when Guimaraes would likely only be a signing for the next two or three years at most, due to his age.