Newcastle have reached an agreement with Olympique Lyon over the proposed transfer of Bruno Guimaraes, according to Fabrizio Romano. The Ligue 1 side have accepted a bid worth around €40 million (£33.5m) for the services of the midfielder who had two and a half years left on his contract.
The 24-year-old has already accepted the switch, though the final details between his representatives and Newcastle are still to be thrashed out. The meeting between them will be taking place throughout the day (Wednesday).
Guimaraes is currently away on international duty, preparing for Brazil’s World Cup qualifier in Ecuador on Thursday. The medical will take place as soon as he returns to Brazil, and he should become a Newcastle player officially before the end of the international break.
This development will have come as a sore blow for Arsenal, the latest of their fruitless attempts to bolster their ranks this month. Their pursuit of of striker Dusan Vlahovic has come to nothing with Fiorentina believed to have accepted a €75m offer from Juventus, and their talks with Juventus about signing Arthur Melo on loan haven’t produced desired results either. Guimaraes was supposed to be an alternative target, but that ship has apparently sailed too.
Newcastle are set to sign Bruno Guimarães. Meeting in the last few hours with Bruno & agents – he decided to accept. ⚪️🇧🇷 #NUFC
€40m bid accepted by OL – details with agents and club are missing before deal is done.
Bruno’s in Ecuador. Medical once he’ll be back in Brazil. pic.twitter.com/qtewkAMpUA
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 26, 2022
Primarily a defensive midfielder, Guimaraes has been known to perform quite well in a box-to-box role too. This term, he has made a total of 25 appearances in all competitions for Lyon, scoring no goals but contributing with six assists.
Lyon signed him from Athletico Paranaense two years ago, for a reported fee of €20m.
