According to a report published on Monday, Feb. 5, by football insider Fabrizio Romano’s parent site Caught Offside, Real Madrid has officially entered the race to sign Newcastle United midfielder Bruno Guimaraes next summer, alongside Premier League rivals Chelsea and Liverpool.
Bruno, 26, is thought to be one of the most likely players to be cut next offseason in order for Newcastle to avoid financial trouble and comply with the FFP and the newly established Premier League Profit and Sustainability rules, which were announced by NUFC CEO Darren Eales a few weeks ago.
The main catalyst for Newcastle’s top-four Premier League finish last season and their qualification for this season’s Champions League, Bruno has only spent a year and a half in Tyneside but his talent and his production have already topped the prestige of the Magpies at this point on their way to becoming a huge threat across Europe, thus putting him in the radar of many behemoths continent-wide.
In 22 appearances in the Premier League this season, Bruno has scored just one goal while providing four assists, but his impact in the game is way broader than his numbers indicate. That’s why Real Madrid, which has been rumored to be interested in signing Bruno for at least a year now, views him as a potential successor to Luka Modric as the contract of the Croatia international is set to expire next July and he’s not quite getting any younger already at 38 years of age.
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According to the source, Carlo Ancelotti is looking for a replacement for Modric and hopes to sign Bruno, whose contract includes a £100 million release clause, making him relatively easy to acquire for a team of Real Madrid’s financial stature. According to the article, the Spaniards “have been monitoring the midfielder for some time” and “see him as an ideal fit should Modric depart.”
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe recently acknowledged the club’s financial difficulties, confirming Eales’ comments from earlier this year and implying the possibility of selling key players such as Guimaraes, Alexander Isak, and/or Sven Botman next summer in order for the club to generate revenue and enter the transfer market as a buyer in future windows.
“I can’t offer any assurance on [not selling Guimaraes and others],” he said. “Regardless of our Financial Fair Play situation or financial situation (under the ownership of PIF), that would be the case because you can never tell what is going to happen in football.”
After a winter transfer window in which Newcastle did not conduct any business due to financial constraints imposed on clubs to avoid trouble (e.g., point deduction), it is expected that the club will sell at least one of their top-tier performers next summer while also bringing at least a few players of reasonable talent to Tyneside to bolster a squad that clearly lacks the depth required to compete on all fronts going forward.
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