Newcastle sale: Euro giants ‘won’t blink’ as FFP puts £100m transfer ‘out of Howe’s hands’
Bruno Guimaraes is ‘top of Paris Saint-Germain’s wish list’ with Newcastle United facing an ‘uphill battle’ to keep hold of the Brazilian midfielder.
Newcastle are expected to sell a star player at the end of the season as they aim to comply with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR).
PSG, Arsenal, Man Utd want Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes
There has been lots of talk surrounding the future of Alexander Isak, who has been strongly linked with Arsenal, but the Swede has insisted this week that he is happy at St James’ Park.
While Guimaraes is vitally important to Newcastle, he will be easier to replace than Isak and with a £100million release clause, receiving that fee in one payment will work wonders with PSR.
Selling the former Lyon star will be painful but would likely benefit Newcastle in the long run and a transfer back to France would suit them more than offloading to a Premier League rival.
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PSG have been interested in signing Guimaraes for a while and a report from the Sun says they are on ‘red alert’ due to the player’s ‘ambitions to play in the Champions League’ and the Magpies’ financial fair play situation.
The report adds that Arsenal and Manchester United are also keen on the 26-year-old – who has 99 Newcastle appearances under his belt.
‘Newcastle face an uphill battle to retain Bruno over the summer,’ a source told the Sun.
‘He’s one of the best midfielders in the world and has been on the radar of PSG for more than a year.
‘They will have funds in the summer and wouldn’t blink at meeting the release clause.
‘Eddie Howe won’t want to lose the player, but the matter may end up being taken totally out of his hands due to FFP.
‘They’ve [PSG] been tracking Bruno for a long time, and it’s no secret that he’s top of their wish list.
‘They face losing Mbappe in the summer so the heat will be on the owners to bring in big names to appease the fans.
“Bruno also has fond links to France so PSG are confident they can get the player out of the club and over to Paris.’
Newcastle should sell Guimaraes, not Isak
As we touched on, selling Guimaraes instead of Isak makes sense in a footballing and financial sense.
Finding a striker on the same level as Isak should prove to be more difficult than an adequate replacement for Guimaraes.
Furthermore, David Ornstein says there is ‘concrete interest’ in the latter, while he is unaware of clubs who are ‘actively’ looking to sign the former.
Ornsteins said on Thursday: “For all the recent reports on Isak, I don’t personally know of clubs who are actively looking to move for him (granted he has plenty of admirers but the fee will be huge, his injury record may be a concern and he is so crucial to Newcastle I imagine they will do everything in their power to keep him). So I would be shocked if Isak was sold.”
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