Newcastle have rejected Arsenal's opening bid of £70m for captain Bruno Guimarães, as the Premier League champions step up their pursuit of the Brazil midfielder.
Guimarães met Newcastle's incoming manager, Matthias Jaissle, for the first time on Monday at the team's pre-season training camp in La Manga, after returning from a post-World Cup holiday in Brazil. Despite suggestions he might fly to London for a medical, he instead boarded a commercial flight to Spain.
Valuation gap
Arsenal believe Guimarães is worth a maximum of £70m, but Newcastle value their captain at around £80m. The 28-year-old has two years remaining on his contract, and while Arsenal have spent much of the summer pursuing a midfielder at the top of Mikel Arteta's shopping list, Newcastle are under no pressure to sell.
Having already sold Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali to Barcelona and Tottenham respectively this summer, Newcastle would prefer to keep Guimarães as Jaissle rebuilds the squad. The 38-year-old, still to be officially confirmed as Eddie Howe's successor, has been with the squad since Saturday and was believed to be keen to assess the Brazilian's mindset ahead of the opening Premier League match against Liverpool.
Goalkeeper signing
Newcastle also completed the signing of Lukas Hornicek from Braga for £26m on Monday. The 24-year-old Czechia goalkeeper is expected to replace Nick Pope as first choice, with Pope likely to leave. Hornicek impressed with seven clean sheets in Braga's Europa League semi-final run, and his footwork should improve Newcastle's ability to play out from the back. Hull had hoped to recruit him, but he turned down a move to the promoted club last month.
