Newcastle confirm Guimaraes departure was against their wishes

Newcastle's sporting director Ross Wilson has clarified to L'Équipe that the club did not plan to sell captain Bruno Guimaraes, insisting the Brazilian himself requested the transfer to Arsenal.

"We didn't want to sell Bruno. It wasn't part of our plans," Wilson said. "None of us, not even the owners, wanted him to go. But Bruno, with great respect towards us, communicated in a very emotional way that he wished to leave and turn the page."

As reported earlier, Arsenal have completed the deal for 90 million euros—higher than the 75 million initially reported. The departure compounds Newcastle's difficult window, which has also seen Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali depart, plus manager Eddie Howe's resignation.