Arsenal could be just hours away from announcing the signing of Bruno Guimaraes after a breakthrough behind the scenes. The newly-crowned Premier League champions have ramped up their pursuit of the Newcastle midfielder over the last few days.
Earlier this week, they saw an opening bid rejected by the Magpies, but a fresh report from Brazil paints a very different picture. According to ESPN Brazil, there is no disagreement over the transfer fee itself, which is believed to be in the region of £80million.
Financial framework settled
It's claimed that the financial framework of the deal is already settled, with Guimaraes having accepted a contract until the summer of 2031. Rather, the delay relates to the conditions of the official announcement.
The report states that Newcastle are holding up confirmation of the move after it was leaked before they were ready to issue a public statement. It's further claimed that the move can now be considered a done deal, with only an official announcement pending.
Pre-season camp and departure
Guimaraes flew to La Manga to join up with the rest of his Newcastle team-mates for their pre-season training camp on Monday. He was expected to reiterate his desire to move to Arsenal in discussions with club chiefs following his arrival.
It was initially reported over the weekend that the midfielder had failed to attend as planned, but Chronicle Live said that he was always scheduled to report back on Monday and did not break any rules.
If the move is confirmed over the coming days, the Brazil international will become the third high-profile player to leave Newcastle in a matter of weeks. Earlier in the window, they sold Anthony Gordon to Barcelona in a deal worth around £75m before accepting a £100m bid from Tottenham for the services of Sandro Tonali.
Manager and manager reaction
Last week, it was reported that Eddie Howe chose to step down as Newcastle manager partly because he believed that Guimaraes would eventually leave.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta smiled when quizzed on the potential transfer over the weekend, before insisting that plenty of work was going on behind the scenes to sign more players.
He said: "Well, we are already active trying to improve and evolve the team. That's clear. We expect to have movements in the next few weeks."
"Obviously, because we want to get better like anybody else, and you can just see the transfer market and our opponents what we are doing. We won't sit still and we are very ambitious what we want to do."
Arsenal have already signed Piero Hincapie on a permanent basis following his successful loan spell at the Emirates Stadium, as well as sealing moves for winger Christos Tzolis and free agent goalkeeper Illan Meslier.
