Newcastle United 'open' to possible swap deal with Arsenal as Gunners look to bring down £100m demand

Arsenal have reportedly reignited their interest in Newcastle United’s Bruno Guimaraes after growing frustrated with talks for Martin Zubimendi.

Mikel Arteta’s side have kept a close eye on Zubimendi for over a year and finally looked to have made progress going into the summer transfer window, with a contract proposal sent to the midfielder’s camp. A release clause of around £52million will have to be activated for Real Sociedad to sell but that is widely seen as a decent price.

But Arsenal are reportedly yet to hear back from Zubimendi’s camp and have grown frustrated at the lack of response, with Arteta keen to get business over the line quickly so he can prepare for another Premier League title challenge. That frustration looks to have forced the Gunners to look elsewhere and Football Transfers reports that Guimaraes has resurfaced as a potential option.

A move for the Brazilian is widely expected to cost twice as much as one for Zubimendi, with Guimaraes’ release clause at Newcastle thought to be worth £100m. But the report adds that the Magpies ‘might be open’ to negotiating on that fee if it is not met elsewhere, with one eye on profitability and sustainability rules (PSR).

Newcastle have long been tipped to lose a key player this summer, with chief executive Darren Eales insisting earlier this year that player trading, both in and out, is necessary to evolve as a club. Although there is no desperate need to raise funds - as is thought to be the case at the likes of Leicester City and Everton - those in charge at St James’ Park won’t outright rule out a move if it could benefit them financially in the long run.

"On any player, at any time, it depends on circumstances. It's difficult to hypothesise but, if we're offered £1bn for one of those players, then no-one could argue against that making sense,” Eales said when asked about the prospect of selling Guimaraes or Alexander Isak. "Whether that is because of the contract length of the player in question, the offer is too good to refuse, you need to reload in certain areas, but all of this could make sense to trade that player.

“It is counter-intuitive and part of the inherent system of PSR that there is an incentive to trade your players if you want to re-invest, by the nature of the boundaries. Any decision we make will always be against the backdrop of the medium to long-term benefit for the club. It's difficult to say specifically on certain players, but I can say that, if we're going to get to where we want to get to, at times it is necessary to trade your players.”

Arsenal are thought to be weighing up the possibility of a player-plus-cash move for Guimaraes, although such deals are notoriously hard to get over the line, given the number of moving parts with multiple players and their agents. It remains to be seen how far the north London club will go to pursue the midfielder, or whether Zubimendi will finally respond to their offer.