Arsenal reportedly closing in on deal to sign Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes

[p]The Premier League champions reportedly had a recent £70 million offer rejected for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bruno-guimaraes/xtyKanzU/"]Guimaraes[/a], but are set to return with an improved offer.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/arsenal/hA1Zm19f/"]Arsenal[/a] are keen on [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/newcastle-utd/p6ahwuwJ/"]Newcastle[/a] captain Guimaraes after opting not to match [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/chelsea/4fGZN2oK/"]Chelsea[/a]'s British record £117 million swoop for England forward [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rogers-morgan/lp4jm80n/"]Morgan Rogers[/a].[/p][p]Guimaraes, 28, scored nine goals and produced eight assists in all competitions for Newcastle last term.[/p][p][a href="https://x.com/David_Ornstein/status/2084654547482333677"]The Athletic[/a] claim that an agreement is close between the two clubs and the Brazilian is awaiting permission to travel for a medical.[/p][embed guid="750ba1c4-3cd6-40bb-9c84-75e50f777f50" url="https://x.com/David_Ornstein/status/2084654547482333677" social-type="twitter" /][p]Newcastle, who signed Guimaraes for £35 million from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/lyon/2akflumR/"]Lyon[/a] in 2022, are keen to avoid a repeat of the protracted transfer saga that ended with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/isak-alexander/p41IV42c/"]Alexander Isak[/a] joining [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/liverpool/lId4TMwf/"]Liverpool[/a] just before the transfer deadline last year.[/p][p]Isak effectively went on strike, refusing to take part in Newcastle's pre-season preparations 12 months ago, in a bid to force through his move to Anfield.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/howe-eddie/hbOpz9hE/"]Eddie Howe[/a], who quit as Newcastle manager last week, had admitted earlier in the close-season that he was concerned about losing Guimaraes.[/p][p]After a holiday following Brazil's World Cup last-16 defeat against Norway in July, Guimaraes has linked up with Newcastle on the club's pre-season training camp in Spain.[/p][p]But it looks increasingly unlikely he will be with the Magpies when they kick off their Premier League campaign at home to Liverpool on August 23rd.[/p][image alt="Bruno Guimaraes career stats" id="b87565b8-1680-4c6b-843f-b83eabde3031" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="f7a3dcaa-21a8-4013-8b7d-cba3fb259a9d" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p]Arsenal open their title defence [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/arsenal-hA1Zm19f/coventry-GOvB22xg/?mid=2q2NhX43"]against Coventry at the Emirates Stadium on August 21st.[/a][/p][p]Gunners manager Mikel Arteta has not spoken publicly about his interest in Guimaraes, but said the club are "very active" and "very ambitious in what we want to do".[/p][p][b]"We need to increase the competition internally. We need to make sure we identify the things that we don't have in the team,"[/b] he said.[/p]