Why Arsenal had to sign Bruno Guimaraes – and how he fits into Mikel Arteta’s midfield | OneFootball

Arsenal have agreed to sign Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes for £75m as the Premier League champions prepare to land one of their key transfer targets before the start of their title defence.

Guimaraes, 28, told Newcastle earlier this summer that he wanted to join the Gunners and a deal for the Brazil international was swiftly reached following negotiations between the clubs this week.

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Arsenal have landed one of their key transfer targets in Bruno Guimaraes (Action Images via Reuters)

Guimaraes was a key player for Newcastle on their rise under Eddie Howe and he added to his fan favourite status on Tyneside by lifting the club’s first domestic silverware in 70 years at last year’s Carabao Cup final.

His exit is another major blow for Newcastle following the exit of manager Howe and the sales of Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali – while Mikel Arteta has added one of the Premier League’s top midfielders to his title-winning side.

All-action midfielder is the king of duels

Guimaraes is a true all-round midfielder, excelling in a number of different areas.

On the ball, Guimaraes stands out highly when compared to other Premier League midfielders when it comes to short, sharp progressive passes through the lines. Arsenal may have signed a meticulous midfielder in Martin Zubimendi only last summer and the Spain international did help Mikel Arteta’s side operate with a further level of control, but with Guimaraes the emphasis is on the direction of his passing.

Guimaraes looks and plays forward. This will help to quicken Arsenal’s play when faced with deep-lying defences. Guimaraes is also excellent at using long passes to switch play out wide, or to release an attacker running behind the opponent’s back-line.

Newcastle fans appreciated Guimaraes’ quality in possession and his creativity. But where the Toon really fell in love with the Brazilian was his snarling attitude off the ball. Guimaraes is the midfield king of one of Mikel Arteta’s buzzwords - duels.

According to Opta, Guimaraes has won more duels and fouls than any other Premier League player since he made his debut for Newcastle four years ago, and it is his aggression in the challenge and ability to regain possession that made him the beating heart of the Magpies when they were at their intense best under Howe.

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Guimaraes scored nine Premier League goals last season as Newcastle finished 12th (PA)

Proven quality to increase competition

Everything about Guimaraes’ tenacity fits into what Arteta said he wanted when approaching this summer’s transfer market as Premier League champions. The last time Arsenal won back-to-back league titles was in 1934 and since 2009, only Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have managed to defend their Premier League crown. The past two decades are full of examples of what happens to title-winning teams if they return the next season but fail to match the same level of intensity: an inevitable drop-off.

Aware of this, Arteta said he wanted to “to increase the competition internally” in May and Guimaraes, who will turn 29 this season, can instantly bring that drive to Arsenal’s squad. That will be particularly important given that midfield leader Declan Rice is coming off a 69-game season for club and country through to the end of the World Cup, when the England international looked exhausted. Zubimendi, too, was drained towards the end of a long debut campaign in England. Zubimendi made 65 appearances for club and country last season.

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Bruno Guimaraes and Declan Rice will become team-mates (Getty)

Where would he play?

Guimaraes’ versatility is key for Arsenal, particularly if Arteta plans to rotate Rice and Zubimendi more this season than he did last campaign as well as further integrating Myles Lewis-Skelly as a midfielder rather than a full-back. Guimaraes would be able to slot into the deepest of Arsenal’s three midfield roles, as the No 6, with Rice pushing further forward. Or, if Rice is rested, Guimaraes can play in a more advanced forward role at No 8 with Zubimendi or Lewis-Skelly anchoring.

Arsenal fans may not see it too often over the first half of the season, but a combination of Guimaraes and Rice – with either Martin Odegaard or Eberechi Eze deployed at No 10 – would potentially be a mouthwatering one. On paper, Guimaraes and Rice do share a lot of the same strengths, they win back possession and progress the ball through midfield, but they complement each other nicely too: while Rice is pure power and legs, Guimaraes brings incision and range.

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Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes is reportedly close to joining Arsenal (Owen Humphreys/PA) (PA Archive)

What next for Arsenal in the market?

Mikel Arteta called for Arsenal to be “ambitious” in the transfer window and signing Guimaraes, the captain of a Newcastle side who had already sold first-team stars Gordon and Tonali and lost their manager Howe, certainly ticks that box.

The fee of £75m is big, but the Gunners have done well to come away from Newcastle having spent much less than Manchester City did in signing Elliot Anderson (£116m), or indeed Tottenham Hotspur for signing Tonali (£100m). Of course, Guimaraes is slightly older in profile.

But after missing out on the signing of Morgan Rogers to Chelsea, Arsenal still want to sign an attacker who can instantly improve the first team this summer and a defender to act as cover for the injured William Saliba. Arsenal’s blockbuster pursuit of Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Jr remains uncertain, even though the framework for personal terms has been agreed.