Newcastle confident over new Bruno Guimaraes contract despite Barcelona interest
Newcastle United remain unconcerned by the interest being shown in midfielder Bruno Guimaraes, 90min understands, with plans to tie the Brazilian down to a new contract still very much on track.
Guimaraes has helped transform Newcastle into a genuine force since his arrival in January 2022, establishing himself as one of the influential midfielders in the Premier League as the Magpies sealed fourth place this season under Eddie Howe.
His form has attracted interest from a number of sides across Europe, with Barcelona and Real Madrid both known to be keeping an eye on his situation, but sources have confirmed to 90min that Newcastle have no concerns about losing Guimaraes this summer.
90min understands that Guimaraes is very happy at St James' Park and has been in talks over a huge new contract for months, and Newcastle are confident they will have wrapped up an extension for the midfielder before the new season begins.
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While Barcelona are known to be fans of Guimaraes, he is not believed to be among their top priorities heading into a summer in which the La Liga champions are not expected to have the sort of money needed to complete such a deal.
Instead, impending free agent Ilkay Gundogan of Manchester City remains a key target, while Real Sociedad's Martin Zubimendi has also been identified as a preferred replacement for the departing Sergio Busquets at the base of midfield - a position manager Xavi has publicly highlighted as his main concern.
Bernardo Silva, Gundogan's City teammate, is also high on Xavi's wish list, while a large portion of the club's spare finances has currently been set aside for their push to re-sign Lionel Messi from Paris Saint-Germain.
Barcelona will not make any major decisions on their transfer strategy until La Liga approve their budget for the summer, with Messi expected to be a top priority, while Barcelona also need to find the salary to register Gavi and Ronald Araujo's new contracts.
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On this week's edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders is joined by Toby Cudworth and Graeme Bailey to discuss all the latest transfer news. On the agenda: Tottenham's pursuit of Feyenoord manager Arne Slot, Bayern Munich's interest in Declan Rice, Joshua Kimmich, Neymar & more!
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