Arsenal handed Guimaraes boost as Newcastle change their transfer stance

Newcastle United have reportedly identified a potential replacement for Bruno Guimaraes as their captain edges closer to joining Arsenal.

The Magpies are undergoing a summer of upheaval, with Guimaraes likely to follow Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali out the door after Eddie Howe left his position as manager. Having sold Gordon and Tonali to Barcelona and Tottenham respectively, Newcastle had been insistent that Guimaraes was not for sale at any price.

But interest from Premier League champions Arsenal has not gone away and the Brazil international now looks set to make the move to London. The Times have reported that Guimaraes could undergo a medical on Monday with a deal worth £80million edging closer.

Guimaraes sent an emotional farewell message to Howe and is keen to join Mikel Arteta's side. It seems that Newcastle have now been forced to face reality, with the team scouring the market for a potential replacement in midfield.

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Corriere dello Sport report that they are ready to challenge Leeds for Inter Milan star Petar Sucic and are prepared to offer between €35m and €40m (£30m and £34m) for his services. The Croatia international has emerged as a key player for Inter and the Italian giants don't want to lose him.

The 22-year-old made 50 appearances for Inter in all competitions last season, contributing four goals and four assists. The Serie A champions value the midfielder at around €45m (£38.4m) and could play Newcastle and Leeds off against each other to drive up the price.

Newcastle have plenty of experience of missing out on transfer targets in recent windows so know how costly they can be. This summer Johan Manzambi went to Aston Villa and Victor Munoz to Liverpool, while last summer Hugo Ekitike and Benjamin Sesko were the most notable misses.

Frustrations around losing key players and a lack of incoming transfers is understood to have been one of the reasons behind Howe's departure. Matthias Jaissle is poised to leave Al-Ahli replace Howe and will have a difficult job in rebuilding after the departures of key players.

Arsenal, meanwhile, want Guimaraes to increase their depth in central midfield alongside the likes of Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi, Mikel Merino and Martin Odegaard. The Gunners have agreed to sell Christian Norgaard to Everton for £7m in preparation for Guimaraes' arrival.

A £34m deal to sign winger Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge to replace Leandro Trossard is the only major signing of the summer window for Arsenal. But they are chasing Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior as well as Guimaraes and manager Arteta has promised more to come.

"We are really active, trying to improve and evolve the team. That's clear," Arteta said after their 4-1 pre-season friendly win over Girona. "We expect to have movements in the next few weeks, obviously, because we want to get better like anybody else. And you can just see it.

"The transfer market and our opponents, what we are doing, we won't sit still. And we are very ambitious in what we want to do."