Newcastle United did not want to sell captain Bruno Guimaraes, sporting director Ross Wilson said on Friday, after reports linked the Brazil midfielder with a move to Arsenal.
British media reported on Wednesday that Arsenal had agreed a deal worth £75 million ($100 million) for the 28-year-old. Neither club has confirmed the reported transfer or responded to requests from Reuters for comment.
"We didn't want to sell Bruno. It wasn't in the plan to sell Bruno. None of us — or ownership — wanted to sell Bruno," Wilson told reporters at Newcastle's pre-season training camp in Spain.
"He's our captain, he was very important to us, and the debate over his price — it's a world-record fee for a player of his age.
"What we had to weigh up was, very respectfully from Bruno with his behavior towards us, very emotionally as well, effectively told us he wanted to leave and move on."
Guimaraes, who joined Newcastle from French side Olympique Lyonnais in January 2022, has made 195 appearances in all competitions and scored 31 goals for the Premier League club.
He captained Newcastle to League Cup glory in 2025, ending the club's long wait for domestic silverware.
"There's no part in saying (the transfer) was part of our strategy and was in our thinking this summer - it wasn't. But we have got to be flexible and react to things that happen," Wilson said.
"It might have been in our plan to sign one player, but we didn't get him so we move on to another. We can only be honest about that."
Guimaraes' exit would be another setback for Newcastle following the departures of Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and manager Eddie Howe.
Newcastle begin their Premier League campaign against Liverpool on August 23.
