Eddie Howe has admitted he wants to keep Bruno Guimarães at Newcastle for the long term but couldn’t offer any guarantees.
Guimarães arrived at Newcastle from French club Lyon in a deal worth £40m in January 2022 and has established himself as a key player and fan favourite.
The Brazil midfielder signed a new five year contract last October committing his future to the Magpies until 2028 although the deal does contain a release clause of £100m.
Howe can’t offer any guarantees over Guimarães future
The Brazilian international is much admired and is attracting interest from the likes of Paris Saint Germain and Manchester City.
Newcastle will be desperate to keep hold of the 26-year-old as they look to progress with their ambitious Saudi backed project and Howe has admitted that players like Guimarães are hard to come by.
In quotes picked up by The Guardian he said: “Players like Bruno are not around every corner.
“They are very, very rare. Bruno should be appreciated for everything he brings.”
The Newcastle manager admitted that eventually the need to meet Premier League profit and sustainability rules will see the Magpies have to sell one of their marquee players, with striker Alexander Isak seemingly set to stay put, Guimarães appear the most likely candidate.
“My intention would be to keep Bruno for as long as we possibly can because I can,” Howe said.
“But I can never make guarantees because that would be absolutely foolish of me. I’ve been in football long enough to know you never know what is going to happen tomorrow.
“But he’s an integral part of the team and playing really well at the moment. A lot will depend on our ambitions and where the club is going in the foreseeable future. We need to show we’re moving forward.”
Guimarães has made 42 appearances in all competitions and has scored three goals and provided seven assists.
Newcastle head to Fulham on Saturday and are currently eighth in the Premier League, and whilst Champions League qualification is all but out of the question they are still firmly in the hunt for a place in the Europa or Conference League.