Paul Scholes has questioned Arsenal's new signing Bruno Guimaraes, suggesting Tottenham secured a 'better player' in Sandro Tonali this summer. Guimaraes was unveiled at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday following his £75m move from Newcastle United, a transfer that ended weeks of negotiations.
Scholes's Verdict on Guimaraes
Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, Scholes said: 'I think Bruno Guimaraes will make Arsenal a better football team. I don't think the football we watched from them was great. You need midfield players to make your team play good football – is he going to do that enough for Arsenal?'
'I know they won the league but I don't think they got the midfield right last season. Maybe this is the answer to it but I do think Sandro Tonali is a better player, he's got more legs about him. I don't think Bruno is amazing physically but he might be more suited to Arsenal.'
Arteta's High Hopes
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has high hopes for Guimaraes, describing him as a 'warrior' who can help the team reach 'the next level'. Arteta said: 'I think he describes himself as a warrior. I think he's a warrior with a tremendous quality as well and intuition and leadership and charisma that is going to help us. It is going to really ignite something different in the team. I'm delighted to have him.'
'We see very clearly – especially the energy that he brought immediately to the training ground – the hunger, the desire to come here and create a big history at the club. That's the ambition that we need. We want to go to the next level and are very, very much convinced that we're going to need players with such a personality, desire and character to push everybody inside the organisation to go even higher.'
Tonali's Quick Decision
Meanwhile, Tonali revealed it took 'just 10 minutes' to decide to join Tottenham after speaking to new Spurs boss Roberto De Zerbi. 'Honestly, I spoke with another team [also],' Tonali admitted. 'When you speak with a team, the first impression is a big thing and my impression was very positive. When you are happy after a 10-minute chat, it's everything, everything is perfect.'
'I spoke with my wife – this was the first thing. We wanted to change our life, but not just for the city, we wanted to change everything. We spoke with two clubs. I understood after 10, 15 minutes that Tottenham would be my next team.'
Tottenham, who finished just two points above the relegation zone last season, begin their 2026-27 Premier League campaign against Brentford. Arsenal start their title defence against newly-promoted Coventry City next Friday.
