Medical imminent as top Newcastle target makes final decision amid Arsenal interest – report
Lyon midfielder Bruno Guimaraes has agreed to a move to Newcastle and will undergo a medical while on Brazil international duty, reports have claimed.
The 24-year-old has been the subject of transfer interest late on in the January transfer window. While Newcastle have made him a top target, Arsenal have also eyed him up as a potential addition.
In fact, the Gunners initially put him on their wish list in January 2020, before he moved to France from Atletico Paranense.
However, Newcastle have led the way for Guimaraes two years on from his last transfer.
They submitted a £33.5million bid to Lyon for the defensive midfielder, which the Ligue 1 club accepted.
More recently, though, reports claimed that Arsenal were plotting to hijack the deal with a late move.
As such, the decision rested on Guimaraes’ shoulders as to where he wanted to move to. And according to The Guardian, he has also accepted Newcastle’s approach.
Guimaraes will therefore undergo an imminent medical in Ecuador, where he is with his Brazil team-mates on international duty.
Indeed, the three-cap international will have eyes on his performance if he plays in Thursday’s World Cup qualifier.
Nevertheless, Lyon have denied reaching an agreement with Newcastle in a strongly-worded statement on their website.
Former Premier League stars who could soon return: Hazard, Bale, Suarez and more
The statement read: “Olympique Lyonnais categorically denies the false information disseminated by many media reporting an agreement between Newcastle and OL for the transfer of Brazilian international midfielder Bruno Guimaraes.
“In this transfer window period where the slightest rumor is often presented as reality, Olympique Lyonnais reminds that only information officially released by the club is to be taken into consideration.”
Newcastle hope to follow up Guimaraes deal
While Guimaraes is the club’s top midfield target, the Tyneside club are seeking a busy end to the January transfer window.
They still want to sign a centre-back, with Sevilla’s Diego Carlos the top target. However, the La Liga club are standing firm over the valuation for Guimaraes’ fellow Brazilian.
Newcastle also wanted to sign Manchester United attacking midfielder Jesse Lingard.
United sanctioned his talks with Newcastle. However, the two clubs are supposedly too far apart in their valuation of the England international.
The post Medical imminent as top Newcastle target makes final decision amid Arsenal interest – report appeared first on TEAMtalk.