In light of the past 24 hours of reporting regarding the club captain, I think it is vital to look back at what the Newcastle United owners told Bruno Guimaraes ahead of him signing for NUFC.
The then Lyon midfielder agreeing to move to St James’ Park towards the end of the January 2022 transfer window.
At that point, the Newcastle United owners had been in control for less than four months after buying the club from Mike Ashley in October 2021.
Eddie Howe had only been in charge of team affairs for less than three months by the time Bruno Guimaraes arrived.
The Brazilian international was an up and coming player at the time who had recently turned 24 and was starting to make a name for himself due to his performances for Lyon.
There was astonishment in football circles when Bruno Guimaraes agreed to sign for Newcastle United, a club that had been left in a total mess by the previous owner, on and off the pitch. A decade and a half of zero ambition at NUFC whilst Premier League rivals built vast powerful empires.
At that point when the Newcastle United owners persuaded Bruno Guimaraes to come to St James’ Park, relegation was looking all but certain, only two wins in the opening 21 Premier League matches.
To have a very ambitious current 24 year old Brazil international midfielder willing to commit to a club that were at the bottom of the Premier League with less than half a season to go, well, that was some sales job that the Newcastle United owners did. A player with one eye on the Qatar World Cup that would be held later that year and an emerging star who was looking for the perfect club to spend the peak years of his career at.
Very important to read again now what Bruno Guimaraes said when he signed for Newcastle United…
Bruno Guimaraes interviewed for the first time after signing for Newcastle United at the end of the January 2022 transfer window:
“We are going to be a club with big power in world football. The [Newcastle United] owners were very up front [when we had talks], that this season the idea is to stay in the Premier League. However, in the future, the main objective in the seasons to come, is to be in the Champions League and eventually to win the Champions League.”
Bruno Guimaraes going on to add:
“I’m very happy and I’d like to thank the fans for their affection and all the messages they sent me. I hope we can have a great second half of the season. I’m really excited, it has always been my dream to play in the Premier League. This is a club with a fascinating project, great tradition and passionate fans. I’m 100% focused on doing my best and my objective [this season] is to remain in the Premier League, we know it is difficult, but we have a really good team and we have made some good signings this season. I’m aiming to go to the World Cup [in Qatar in November / December] and fans can be rest assured that I will give my all on the pitch. It is very very beautiful this stadium [St James Park] and I am very happy to be here.”
Like the rest of you I really hope that the Bruno Guimaraes going to Arsenal (or anywhere else) talk, proves to be just that, talk.
He has given us the best part of five years and been absolutely brilliant, on and off the pitch. When he was made Newcastle United captain, many journalist and pundits, and indeed fans, cast doubts on the wisdom of doing so. Yet it was a masterstroke from Eddie Howe, difficult to imagine now how anybody ever doubted Bruno Guimaraes as captain.
Reality is though that Bruno Guimaraes was sold a vision by the Newcastle United owners that has failed to materialise.
Almost five years after joining Newcastle United, not even any official announcement on the new state of the art training complex, nothing on stadium plans.
Since Bruno Guimaraes signed back in January 2022, we have then had Yasir Al-Rumayyan reaffirming that the ambition is for Newcastle United to be the “Number One” football club in the World, the most dominant.
We have had the new/current club CEO David Hopkinson declaring (undoubtedly with the knowledge and agreement of the Newcastle United owners to say so) the realistic ambition is that NUFC will be competing for all trophies by 2030.
I don’t think it is all doom and gloom at St James’ Park as things stand this summer, BUT when you consider what Bruno Guimaraes was told/promised back in January 2022, you can’t blame him if he points out to the Newcastle United owners that the reality isn’t quite matching up to what it said in the brochure.