Newcastle United are ready to sit down with Bruno Guimaraes before the end of the season to discuss a new long-term contract, 90min understands.
The 24-year-old joined Newcastle in January this year from Lyon in a deal worth £40m and he has been outstanding since his arrival on Tyneside, quickly establishing himself as a favourite of both the fans and manager Eddie Howe.
His form has already seen him linked with moves away and he recently admitted that he knew talks over a possible move to Real Madrid had taken place, but he is more than happy with life in Newcastle.
Guimaraes’s current deal is due to run until 2026 and he is already one of the club’s top earners, but at around £120,000 a week, it is someway short of what the best-paid midfielders in England are pocketing.
90min understands that Newcastle realise and appreciate that to keep their Brazilian star happy on Tyneside, they will need to offer him an improved deal.
Sources have confirmed that Newcastle have told Guimaraes and his representatives that they are willing to sit down with them before the end of the current season to discuss a new contract.
Talk of Guimaraes’ future has also been put to sporting director Dan Ashworth, who met with local media this week, and he confirmed their determination to keep him.
“Absolutely, I do not want to sell Bruno,” he told the Evening Chronicle. “You have to trade, given Financial Fair Play.
“There’ll be times… I can’t lie to you and say we’ll never have to sell a player, that doesn’t happen anywhere.
“Liverpool sold Sadio Mane. You have to sometimes make a pragmatic decision to go, ‘OK, we’ll do that, because that’s a way of reinvesting’. But, as a rule of thumb, I would like to think we’ll be able to hold onto our top talent to drive our ambitions.”
Credit: 90min.com
