Arsenal
Arsenal eye formal offer after opening talks to sign £29.8m South American star
Arsenal have opened talks with Lyon over a deal to sign Bruno Guimaraes after Mikel Arteta identified the £29.8m-rated midfielder as a transfer target
Arsenal have opened talks with Lyon over a deal to sign Bruno Guimaraes after Mikel Arteta identified the £29.8m-rated midfielder as a transfer target this summer, according to Goal.
Arteta has been busy revamping his squad this summer after Arsenal finished eighth last season and the Spanish coach has already snapped-up highly rated young duo Nuno Tavares and Albert Lokonga.
Centre-back Ben White is also set to arrive in a big-money deal from Brighton & Hove Albion but Arteta is still in the market for further reinforcements and a central midfielder is seen as a top priority.
Granit Xhaka is expected to complete a move to Italy while Lucas Torreira is likely to follow Matteo Guendouzi out the exit door so Arsenal desperately need another midfielder and Guimaraes has emerged as a target.
According to Goal, Arsenal have now opened talks with Lyon to discuss a potential deal for Guimaraes and are considering putting in a formal offer for the South American defensive midfielder.
Arsenal have held a long standing interest in Guimaraes having tried to sign him in January 2020 with technical director Edu believed to have been tracking the midfielder since his days as technical coordinator of the Brazilian national team.
Goal suggests that Arsenal have now renewed their interest in the 23-year-old after failing in their attempts to sign Sassuolo’s Manuel Locatelli and they could sign Guimaraes at a reasonable price this summer.
Lyon are facing financial difficulties after failing to qualify for the Champions League and Goal says the Ligue 1 outfit are ready to do business for Guimaraes if Arsenal put in an offer worth at least £29.8m [€35m].
That sort of money would represent an excellent piece of business for a player of his quality so Arsenal could be tempted to push ahead with a move for the Brazilian international this summer.
Guimaraes is currently away at the Olympics where he’s preparing for Brazil’s quarter-final clash with Egypt this weekend so any proposed move to Arsenal would have to wait until his participation in Tokyo is over.
However, Guimaraes would be a superb addition to Arteta’s squad if Arsenal could get a deal over the line as he’d be an excellent replacement for Xhaka and a terrific partner for Thomas Partey.
