The £100 million release clause for Bruno Guimaraes has already become operative, and Newcastle United will now have to wait an anxious four weeks.
According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, the Brazilian’s release clause went into effect on Monday. Previously, Romano claimed the clause was applicable from the last week of May to the last week of June.
This implies that Newcastle has no control over the 26-year-old’s future for the next month. Guimaraes would have to agree on terms if a club—Manchester City and Arsenal, in particular, have been strongly linked—were to activate the release clause during that window of time.
Magpies head coach Eddie Howe thinks having a deadline can help United, who would recover control of Guimaraes’ destiny heading into July and August, even though there will be a nervous wait initially.
Howe stated last month that “having that was well planned and structured by the club, in a sense that there is a finish point.” We don’t think it’s good for the player or for us to be in a state of perpetual conjecture.
Since coming to Newcastle from Lyon in January 2022, Guimaraes has been a game-changer. During his first 18 months on Tyneside, Newcastle went from being relegated to the Premier League to earning a spot in the Champions League.
Despite the three-place drop off this season, which saw Newcastle fail to qualify for Europe after Manchester United’s FA Cup win, Guimaraes has remained an integral part having featured in all-but one of the club’s 38 league matches.
Howe has made it clear he wants to keep the Brazilian and build a team around him and Alexander Isak, whose 25 goals in 23-24 saw him become the first United player since Alan Shearer to hit that tally.
“When it’s something you don’t necessarily have control over, I don’t tend to worry about,” Howe said previously. “I think it goes without saying what my thoughts on the Bruno situation are.
“We want to keep him, we want to build our team around him and he’s an integral part of what we are doing. His form has been very good. He seems very happy and settled. He will be thinking about a busy summer ahead and where we can hopefully take the team. He is a big part of that. We are not in control of that, so we shall see.”
