Versatile Bruno Guimarães gives Mikel Arteta options to shuffle midfield pack

If there was one of his many assets Newcastle supporters grew to love above all about Bruno Guimarães then it was best summed up by the man himself after being unveiled as Arsenal’s new £75m signing. “That’s a tough one,” said the Brazil midfielder when asked what fans in north London can expect from him. “I would say I can pass the ball, run a lot and play like a warrior. I’ll never give up.”

After more than four years on Tyneside and having seen Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali precede Eddie Howe’s departure, Guimarães – who was devastated after missing a penalty for the Seleção in their defeat against Norway in the last 16 of the World Cup – was determined to seize his opportunity.

While his emotional statement released by Newcastle as his move to Arsenal was confirmed on Saturday said they “did everything they could to keep me”, at the age of 28 he clearly felt it may never come again.

Andrea Berta’s pursuit of Vinícius Júnior came up short this week after the Brazil forward signed an improved six-year deal with Real Madrid. But at least Arsenal’s sporting director was finally able to bring in a player who was first courted by the club in the early days of Mikel Arteta’s reign, and who will add to the outstanding crop of central midfielders at his disposal.

Edu Gaspar, Berta’s predecessor, is understood to have first enquired about Guimarães when he was still at Athletico Paranaense in Brazil before he joined Lyon in the January 2020 transfer window – a few weeks after Arteta’s arrival at the Emirates.

They were also interested when Newcastle won the race to sign him in January 2022 for €40m, which came back to haunt Arsenal when he scored in a 2-0 win that went a long way to them missing out on Champions League qualification that season.

That first of nine appearances is the only time he scored against Arsenal, but Guimarães always impressed in a variety of roles whenever he came up against them, including in the Carabao Cup semi-final Newcastle won 4-0 on aggregate in 2025. He has covered more distance, won more duels and committed more fouls against Arsenal than any other side since making his Premier League debut.

It was no surprise that Declan Rice – the only player in the division to have covered more distance than Guimarães in that period and who enjoyed their fair share of battles – was one of the first to welcome him to Arsenal with a message that said “come here and please no more fights, now we’re friends”.

It is hard to argue with Guimarães that Arsenal have “one of the best midfields” in Europe because last season proved it. Yet having gone all the way to the Champions League final before spending the summer with England, after suffering with neural pain in his hamstring and lower back since December, Rice must be treated with the utmost care in the coming months. Guimarães can provide cover for him in a box-to-box role and gives Arteta options to rotate his other midfielders more frequently.

He did not seem to trust Christian Nørgaard, who has joined Everton, to deputise for Martín Zubimendi in the Premier League last year, and that led to the Spain midfielder running out of steam in the spring.

It was telling that the teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly started in his preferred position at the base of midfield during the title run-in, and against Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest for the Champions League final, having begun the campaign as a left-back. Guimarães showed at Newcastle he is capable of playing in a deeper role as well and Arteta must decide how to balance his plethora of options in a crucial part of the pitch.

While he could not match Mikel Merino’s goalscoring exploits for Spain,Martin Ødegaard showed signs that he is back to his best during the World Cup after another disappointing season for Arsenal that was again interrupted by injury.

Having missed out on Morgan Rogers, the onus will be on the Norway captain, Guimarães and last summer’s big signing, Eberechi Eze, to provide some creativity to an attack that struggled to break down the low block at times last season.

Arsenal are still in the market for a defender to cover the absence of William Saliba for an extended period, while they would like to bring in another forward to add to the signing of Christos Tzolis. Atlético Madrid’s Julián Alvarez or Bradley Barcola of Paris Saint-Germain would fit the bill, although it remains to be seen if they will bring in a marquee player without offloading Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus – who has interest from Napoli. Even if they do depart, the presence of another familiar face in the Brazil centre-back Gabriel should also help Guimarães settle into his new home.

“Big Gabi was very excited,” he told Arsenal’s website. “Every time he sent me the message: ‘We’ll wait for you, when will you come?’ I’m so excited to join them, not only the Brazilians, we have an amazing squad here. I’m so excited to meet the other players, to start training. I just want to give my best.”

Reporting from The Guardian contributed to this story.