Newcastle backed to pursue former Tottenham hero as Guimaraes exit accelerates – King

Former Tottenham scout Bryan King has backed Newcastle to go after one of the main saviours of Spurs’ season last time out, as a replacement for the likely departing Bruno Guimaraes.

Spurs have made two huge midfield signings this season, in Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali. The former West Ham and Newcastle pair cost a combined £185million and will surely both be regular starters.

Their signings meant that Joao Palhinha, for whom the club had a £26million option to buy, was not brought back, despite scoring important goals in victories over Wolves and Everton in the latter stages of the Premier League relegation scrap.

There have been suggestions that a return to his native Portugal is most likely for the midfielder owned by Bayern Munich, but King feels Newcastle could be viable.

He told Football Insider: “That’s the manager’s [Roberto De Zerbi] decision as far as I can see. He don’t fancy him.

“I think the manager now looks at it and thinks: ‘Well, we’ve got [Conor] Gallagher. We’ve got [James] Maddison back. We’re never going to play all three and it’s far easier to send him back.’

“Without any doubt, he’ll either go back to a German team or he’ll be picked up by another Premier League team.

“If Guimaraes does leave, [Palhinha] could be a player who could be brought in for him at Newcastle. He’d certainly be a player who could play alongside him. That’s for sure.”

Want more breaking news and transfer lines from original sources? Add TEAMtalk as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust.

Guimaraes closing in on exit

Guimaraes’ potential exit has accelerated of late. In recent days, the Newcastle midfielder told the club he wanted to leave, though he isn’t going to force his way out.

Arsenal have made a couple of approaches for him, though haven’t managed to make a breakthrough just yet.

TEAMtalk is aware that the midfielder’s representatives have accelerated talks over a move to the Emirates in recent days.

Indeed, the Brazilian ideally doesn’t want to return to pre-season training with Newcastle following the World Cup if he doesn’t have to.

Reports have suggested the Magpies would accept upwards of £60million, but sources state they’re instead hopeful of closer to £100million.

Fresh talks have taken place with Arsenal, and joining them is Guimaraes’ end goal.

READ MORE: Tottenham lead the race to sign Rashford in dramatic Man Utd deal as two Italian sides pull plug