Bruno Guimaraes: Arsenal’s £75m Key to Midfield Dominance

Arsenal’s pursuit of Bruno Guimaraes is a tale revisited. The North London club eyed the Brazilian midfielder four years ago during his tenure at Lyon, but ultimately, Guimaraes headed to Newcastle.

Adding to Arsenal’s chagrin, Guimaraes announced his move with a video on social media, teasing fans with the caption ‘a beautiful chapter is coming’ and prominently featuring media buzz about Arsenal’s interest. It was a twist of the knife for Gunners’ supporters.

Fast forward over four years, and Arsenal find themselves at the negotiations table once more. This time, however, Guimaraes seems eager to don the red and white. The Brazilian has reportedly expressed his desire to join Arsenal, leaving the two clubs to finalize a deal that’s expected to close around £75 million.

Owner Josh Kroenke encapsulated Arsenal’s ambitions at the season’s end, stating: “It’s about trying to stay at the top, knowing everyone is trying to climb the mountain after you.”

Acquiring Guimaraes would certainly fortify their ascent. His multifaceted skill set makes him a prized asset for manager Mikel Arteta, combining physicality with versatility. Whether orchestrating play, disrupting opponents, or transitioning from defense to attack, Guimaraes is the complete package Arsenal craves.

Declan Rice needs a rest. The Arsenal and England midfielder played 69 matches for club and country last season. Arteta ran him into the ground – he has previous for this, just ask Bukayo Saka – and, by the end, you could tell.

He played through a hamstring injury from Christmas onwards and was substituted early in England’s victory over Croatia with ‘neural pain’ in his back.

‘The body’s been through a lot this season,’ he said after England’s World Cup semi-final defeat by Argentina. ‘I think you can see I’m mentally done, physically done. I need a break now.’

Only, Arsenal’s title defence starts in less than a month. Having Guimaraes will allow Arteta to rest his linchpin.

But that’s only one reason. He’s Rice, and he’s more. In many ways, he’s the complete central player. Over his four and a half years at Newcastle, he ranked in the top five midfielders for both tackles and chances created from open play. Only Rice and Bruno Fernandes have run more miles since Guimaraes joined the Premier League.

His tenacity out of possession will be ideal for Arteta’s intense press. He wins the ball back but then he does something with it.

What has been clear in recent seasons is how over-reliant Arsenal are down the right and, conversely, how under-served they have been at playing through the middle. Saka is the main source of attacking threat while creator-in-chief Martin Odegaard also likes to drift that side.

Guimaraes is the ideal player to fix that. Nine goals for Newcastle last season was as many as Rice and Zubimendi combined, while his five assists match Rice’s figure.

So much of his creativity for Newcastle comes through the middle. As you can see from the chances created maps below, many of Rice’s come tucked into the left channel and frequently not until he gets into the final third.

Guimaraes is more focused in central areas and, quite frequently, from deep.

That could be crucial for Arteta. His ability on the ball from deeper areas will allow Arsenal to be quicker and more direct when they have possession, an aspect of their play Arteta is keen to improve if they are to push on once more.

For too long, they have struggled to break down defences with cutting passes and instead turned back to set-pieces or Saka.

Towards the back end of last season, we saw Arsenal try to implement this more, especially in their Champions League semi-final victory over Atletico Madrid where they used the pace of Viktor Gyokeres to exploit space in behind the defence.

William Saliba’s ball (below) led to the move that set up Saka’s winning goal. In the same game, however, the Arsenal crowd got on Rice’s back when he had the chance to do the same but turned it down and passed it sideways.

Guimaraes loves a pass from deep to set his team-mates away. Arsenal know that only too well, Guimaraes having sent a defence-splitting ball through to Jacob Murphy to run clear in their clash early in the season.

He attempted more through balls and line-breaking passes per game than either of them too.

Not only that, though, he can dribble the ball with purpose himself too. Guimaraes created 13 chances for his Newcastle team-mates following ball carries last term, more than both Rice (eight) and Zubimendi (three) combined.

His delivery from set plays, the cornerstone of Arsenal’s attack, is also superb with a couple of assists coming from corners last term.

All of that shows why Arteta wants him, and why he’s so keen to splash the cash on a player that’s not far off 30. Because he can play the Rice role or he can play the Zubimendi (or Myles Lewis-Skelly) one. Rice can sit in, Guimaraes can push on. Or the other way around. He can split defences, he can run at them.

What better way to push on again than by signing a player who can do it all.