Pep Guardiola goes all in for colossal Man City signing of rivals’ midfielder that will leave fans devastated

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has reportedly made Bruno Guimaraes his top summer target at the Etihad amid claims he has a growing belief a deal is there to be done and with it emerging exactly how much the Brazilian’s signing will cost.

The 26-year-old moved to St James’ Park in a transformative £40m move from Lyon in January 2022 and quickly established himself as a huge fans’ favourite with his tigerish displays in the engine room and determination to win. And with those traits quickly rubbing off on those around him, Guimaraes played a crucial role in helping Newcastle to a top-four finish during his first full season on Tyneside.

However, the 2023/24 campaign has not gone as well for a Newcastle side who have been thoroughly-plagued by injuries and seen themselves suffer an early exit from the Champions League, despite the club making a real fist of things in the so-called Group of Death.

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Little of their downturn can be laid at the feet of Guimaraes, who is now very much regarded as one of the best in the world game. However, the player cut a desolate figure in the club’s last outing before the international break – a 2-0 FA Cup quarter-final exit at Manchester City – that ended the club’s last hopes of silverware for the season.

And while the 20-times capped Brazil midfielder signed a new deal in October as a reward for his progress and to extend his stay at St James’ until 2028, rumours of late have began to swirl that Guimaraes could be the subject of a huge summer bid for his services.

Guardiola ‘obsessed’ with bringing Bruno Guimaraes to Man City

Indeed, with PSG strongly linked with a move to bring the player back to Ligue 1, he’s also reportedly been placed on the wanted list at Real Madrid.

However, the strongest rumours of all in recent days have surrounded Manchester City, whom have reportedly made the 26-year-old a leading target ahead of this summer’s window.

Those chances of luring Guimaraes away from Tyneside have seemingly been enhanced amid claims that a need to balance the books at Newcastle could lead to the sale of a leading star.

On that note, Alexander Isak has also been linked with a move to Arsenal in recent days.

There is no doubt though that Guimaraes is the club’s most-desirable asset and now reports in Spain claim Guardiola is on a personal mission to bring the player to the Etihad.

The Cityzens are poised to bid farewell to Kalvin Phillips this summer following his January loan to West Ham, while neither summer 2023 signing in Mateo Kovacic, from Chelsea, or Matheus Nunes, from Wolves, have managed to convince Guardiola they are worthy of regular starts.

How much will City need to pay to land Brazilian star?

As a result, it’s now reported the Guardiola is ‘obsessed’ with the idea of signing Guimares to Manchester and is prepared to spend as much as £85m to land his man.

The Magpies did insert a £100m exit clause in the midfielder’s deal upon his signing of a new deal and they would ideally point City to that if they indeed made a firm approach.

However, there is seemingly a belief at the City end that Newcastle could be forced to do business and that could play into Guardiola’s hands, with the Cityzens boss used to getting his own way when it comes to landing upon his top targets.

Any sale of the star, albeit in a club-record deal – their current record sale stands at the £35m sale ofm Andy Carroll to Liverpool in January 2011 – would leave their fans devastated with Guimaraes arguably the most adored player of their current crop of stars.

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