Arsenal plan to agree Bruno Guimaraes transfer within days after three offers to Newcastle

Arsenal are honing in on a move for Newcastle United captain, Bruno Guimaraes, and plan to complete a deal for the Brazilian central midfielder within a matter of days

Arsenal are planning on accelerating talks with Newcastle United for Bruno Guimaraes over the next week, as they look to finally secure midfield reinforcement.

It's been a long and drawn out transfer saga in the North East, with Arsenal putting relentless pressure on the Magpies despite the club reiterating time and time again that their captain isn't for sale at any price.

The Brazilian was a burning beacon in an otherwise largely lacklustre Newcastle team last term, and has seen a wealth of interest as a result.

However, having already let Sandro Tonali join Tottenham Hotspur in a £100million move, and selling Anthony Gordon to Barcelona for £69m, the Magpies are hopeful of retaining a least a small portion of their dwindling star power.

Arsenal, however, have other plans. It is understood that while no formal talks have commenced, talkSPORT claim that Guimaraes has already agreed terms with the Gunners.

Andrea Berta's board are also reportedly willing to pay at least £70m for the 28-year-old in the coming weeks, with sources also telling the publication that three verbal offers have already been made by the North London outfit.

That's despite big wigs on Tyneside claiming that no formal bid has been made just yet. Under contract until 2028, Newcastle are in no rush to sell their captain, meaning they can effectively demand whatever price they want to allow him to leave.

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And while Eddie Howe is keen to retain Guimaraes for the new season, the head coach has admitted that the choice, ultimately, is not his to make.

Speaking at the weekend, he said: "I've spoken to him as I would do. Bruno, normally, is just a fantastic person.

"We've had some really good conversations, both before the World Cup, during the World Cup and after the World Cup. What we speak about obviously has to remain private.

"He's just a great player and a great person. Look, I don't know what's going to happen with Bruno's future.

"That's for other people to, one, speculate about, but also conversations that I'm not part of. We don't want to lose our best players.

"That's an obvious statement to make. Losing those big two [Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali] is painful for us and difficult. For me, it's been another challenging summer so far."

It comes as Arsenal are on the market for reinforcement to their engine room, having missed out on Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers to Chelsea earlier this month.

Despite being linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium for the majority of the summer, the Englishman instead made the decision to make his way to Stamford Bridge in a £117m move.