Arsenal poised - can Newcastle convince Guimaraes for a second time? - Published Some news conferences live longer in the memory than others. Bruno Guimaraes made an instant, and lasting, impression when he was presented to the media following a £35m move from Lyon to Newcastle United.

"We're going to be a big power in world football," he vowed in January 2022. Eyebrows were immediately raised, because at the time Newcastle were a lowly 19th in the Premier League. But the Brazilian had reason to believe.

The club's hierarchy had signalled to him ambitions to reach the Champions League - to even try to win the competition. All this while Premier League survival hung in the balance. Eddie Howe's side went on to pull away from danger, qualify for the Champions League in two of the following three seasons, and to boot they ended Newcastle's 70-year wait to win a major domestic trophy by lifting the EFL Cup in 2025.

But now what? Senior figures at Newcastle have repeatedly stressed the club are thinking big in the long term, but it feels like the project has reached a crossroads. Alexander Isak pushed and got his wish to join Liverpool last summer, while Anthony Gordon completed a move to Barcelona in May this year.

Tottenham Hotspur have tested the waters with an opening bid of about £80m for Sandro Tonali, and Arsenal are poised to make an offer for Guimaraes. Some of the game's highest-earning clubs clearly sense an opportunity to target Newcastle's best players. So can Newcastle hang on to Guimaraes, their most prized jewel of all?

'The most important player in the team' Newcastle do not want to lose Guimaraes and the club are adamant he is not for sale. It is understood Arsenal have not yet made an approach. Outsiders may coldly argue that this is the time for Newcastle to sell Guimaraes, given he turns 29 in November.

But Guimaraes is Newcastle's captain and talisman. Such is his quality, he went top of the World Cup assists leaderboard by teeing up Gabriel Martinelli's late winner against Japan. A fourth assist in four games, at the highest level.

This is the measure of the player. Even measured staff behind the scenes at Newcastle openly talk about him being an "inspirational" figure. Newcastle have lost plenty of games when Guimaraes has featured, of course, but Howe's side failed to win any of the 12 league fixtures he missed between August 2022 and February 2026.

Former team-mate Emil Krafth experienced Guimaraes' influence at first hand after spending four and a half years with the midfielder at Newcastle. "He's the most important player in the team," Krafth said. "He manages the game so well, both physically and technically.

"I hope they can keep him. "There's a lot of rumours surrounding him, which is not surprising because he's had a good World Cup and a great season." Why Guimaraes is the heartbeat of the team Guimaraes tellingly emerged with credit following Newcastle's bruising domestic campaign. Newcastle slipped to 12th place in the Premier League, but they would have been in a far worse position without their player of the year.

Having worked with the coaching staff on getting further up the field, and anticipating where the ball will fall inside the box, Guimaraes even finished as Newcastle's top scorer in the Premier League with nine goals.