Arsenal are pushing hard to strengthen their midfield this summer, with Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes emerging as their leading transfer target ahead of the new season.
The Brazilian has made his preference clear, with reports indicating he wants to join Arsenal despite interest from elsewhere, including Manchester City.
Newcastle are holding firm on their valuation, demanding £100m for Guimaraes, a fee matching what they received from Tottenham Hotspur for Sandro Tonali.
The asking price is steep, but Arsenal’s recruitment team are pressing ahead, aware that landing a midfielder of Guimaraes’ quality could be transformative for the squad.
Guimaraes is being compared to Mikel Merino, a player who has become synonymous with decisive contributions and big-game moments since arriving at the Emirates Stadium.
Merino was signed from Real Sociedad for around £32m, a fee that now looks like one of the most shrewd pieces of business in the Premier League era.
The Spaniard had originally joined Newcastle’s former club Real Sociedad after being sold by the Toon for just £10m back in 2018, spending six productive years in San Sebastian before his move to Arsenal.
After a difficult 2025/26 campaign hampered by a stress fracture in his foot sustained in January, Merino has returned to the international stage with genuine force at the World Cup.
He scored late winners against both Portugal and Belgium in successive games, reminding the world of his extraordinary ability to deliver in the biggest moments.
That instinct for the crucial goal is backed up by remarkable statistics, with ten of Merino’s 11 Premier League goals, a staggering 91 percent, classified as game-state changing strikes, meaning opening goals, equalisers, or goals that give Arsenal the lead.
No Arsenal player in that period matches that ratio, surpassing even Leandro Trossard who scored 17 game-changing goals from 27 overall, and Martin Odegaard who contributed 10 from 19.
One of Merino’s most extraordinary stretches came when he was deployed as a makeshift centre-forward, filling in during injuries to Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus at the start of 2025.
That famous brace against Leicester City started a purple patch in which the 30-year-old scored six goals in 12 games as a number nine, finishing with ten goals and six assists in 23 appearances as a striker.
Arsenal also have other midfield options under consideration this summer, with Bournemouth’s Alex Scott and Lille’s Ayyoub Bouaddi among the names being tracked by the club.
However, Guimaraes remains the priority, and if Arsenal can agree terms with Newcastle, they will be adding a player whose profile and impact mirrors the big-game qualities that have made Merino such a fan favourite at the Emirates.