How £75m Bruno Guimaraes can take Arsenal to next level: Better numbers than Declan Rice, leading Mikel Arteta's press and how his deep passes unlock low blocks

Arsenal have been here before with Bruno Guimaraes. The Gunners wanted him four years ago when he was still at Lyon but, in the end, the Brazilian chose Tyneside.

If that were not bad enough, the announcement video he posted on his social media, captioned ‘a beautiful chapter is coming’ began with clippings of news headlines of Arsenal’s interest.

More than four years later and Arsenal are back again. This time, Guimaraes wants them too. He has told Newcastle he wants to join Arsenal and now it’s down to the clubs to thrash it out. A fee of around £75million should do it.

That’s a fair whack for a player about to turn 29, much older than the usual profile of Arsenal signings under Arteta, but in Guimaraes they would have a ready-made addition to take them to the next level, as they bid to retain their first Premier League title in 22 years and expunge the pain of the Champions League final defeat by Paris Saint-Germain.

As owner Josh Kroenke said at the end of the season: ’It is about trying to stay at the top knowing everyone is trying to climb the mountain after you.’

Guimaraes would help them do that. There’s good reason why Arteta wants him. He’s physical. He’s versatile. He can play box-to-box, deep-lying playmaker or destructor. Or, as we’ll come to see, all of them, all at once.

Arsenal are pushing hard to sign Bruno Guimaraes (left) from Newcastle to bolster their midfield as they bid to retain their Premier League title

Arsenal tried to sign Guimaraes from Lyon in 2022, but were beaten to the signing by Newcastle

The 28-year-old Brazilian has 48 caps for his country, representing them at the last two World Cups

Declan Rice needs a rest. The Arsenal and England midfielder played 69 matches for club and country last season. Arteta ran him into the ground – he has previous for this, just ask Bukayo Saka – and, by the end, you could tell.

He played through a hamstring injury from Christmas onwards and was substituted early in England’s victory over Croatia with ‘neural pain’ in his back.

'The body's been through a lot this season,’ he said after England’s World Cup semi-final defeat by Argentina. 'I think you can see I'm mentally done, physically done. I need a break now.’

Only, Arsenal’s title defence starts in less than a month. Having Guimaraes will allow Arteta to rest his linchpin.

But that’s only one reason. He’s Rice, and he’s more. In many ways, he’s the complete central player. Over his four and a half years at Newcastle, he ranked in the top five midfielders for both tackles and chances created from open play. Only Rice and Bruno Fernandes have run more miles since Guimaraes joined the Premier League.

His tenacity out of possession will be ideal for Arteta’s intense press. He wins the ball back but then he does something with it.

What has been clear in recent seasons is how over-reliant Arsenal are down the right and, conversely, how under-served they have been at playing through the middle. Saka is the main source of attacking threat while creator-in-chief Martin Odegaard also likes to drift that side.

Guimaraes is the ideal player to fix that. Nine goals for Newcastle last season was as many as Rice and Zubimendi combined, while his five assists match Rice’s figure.

Declan Rice has admitted he is suffering from neural damage in his lower back and hamstring - and did not appear to be at full fitness during the World Cup

Guimaraes' nine goals for Newcastle last season was as many as Rice and Zubimendi combined, while his five assists matches Rice’s figure

So much of his creativity for Newcastle comes through the middle. As you can see from the chances created maps below, many of Rice's come tucked into the left channel and frequently not until he gets into the final third.

Guimaraes is more focused in central areas and, quite frequently, from deep.

That could be crucial for Arteta. His ability on the ball from deeper areas will allow Arsenal to be quicker and more direct when they have possession, an aspect of their play Arteta is keen to improve if they are to push on once more.

Where Rice creates his chances from, focused largely on the left 'half-space' just outside the box

Guimaraes' map is far more varied, and he is able to create chances from deeper - which will help Arsenal against low blocks

For too long, they have struggled to break down defences with cutting passes and instead turned back to set-pieces or Saka.

Towards the back end of last season, we saw Arsenal try to implement this more, especially in their Champions League semi-final victory over Atletico Madrid where they used the pace of Viktor Gyokeres to exploit space in behind the defence.

William Saliba’s ball (below) led to the move that set up Saka’s winning goal. In the same game, however, the Arsenal crowd got on Rice’s back when he had the chance to do the same but turned it down and passed it sideways.

Guimaraes loves a pass from deep to set his team-mates away. Arsenal know that only too well, Guimaraes having sent a defence-splitting ball through to Jacob Murphy to run clear in their clash early in the season.

He attempted more through balls and line-breaking passes per game than either of them too.

William Saliba chips in behind the PSG defence to find Viktor Gyokeres

But Rice was unable to do the same, and instead passed back inside to Martin Odegaard

Guimaraes showed against Arsenal last season that he is eager to get attacks started rather than build up slowly and allow the defence time to settle

Not only that, though, he can dribble the ball with purpose himself too. Guimaraes created 13 chances for his Newcastle team-mates following ball carries last term, more than both Rice (eight) and Zubimendi (three) combined.

His delivery from set plays, the cornerstone of Arsenal’s attack, is also superb with a couple of assists coming from corners last term.

All of that shows why Arteta wants him, and why he’s so keen to splash the cash on a player that’s not far off 30. Because he can play the Rice role or he can play the Zubimendi (or Myles Lewis-Skelly) one. Rice can sit in, Guimaraes can push on. Or the other way around. He can split defences, he can run at them.

What better way to push on again than by signing a player who can do it all.