Alan Shearer Exclusive: I understand Bruno Guimarães' desire to join Arsenal

Bruno's Newcastle exit is disappointing but not surprising

From my point of view there's two ways of looking at Bruno Guimarães' desire to join Arsenal - a move which, at the time of writing, is yet to be confirmed but looks inevitable after the clubs agreed a fee.

First of all, as a fan of Newcastle who's watched him for four or five years, I'm disappointed because I've seen him produce magical moments. I've seen how brilliant he is, how he can make a difference to the team. I've seen him kiss the badge. I've seen him react to the crowd. I've seen him be made captain. And I've heard him say how much he loves the club. So, from that point of view, I'm really disappointed.

From a professional point of view, and from someone who works in football and knows how the game is, I totally get it. He's 29 in a couple of months. He's going to the champions. Last week, he saw his manager Eddie Howe leave. He saw Alexander Isak leave last summer then this summer he saw Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali sold. Newcastle is a very different football club to the one it was 12 or 18 months ago.

Overall, my point is always the same. If someone wants to leave then let them go. Bruno hasn't done it in the wrong way, he's done it the right way. We didn't like what Yoane Wissa was doing at Brentford last summer and we didn't like what Isak was doing at Newcastle. Bruno came back from his holiday after the World Cup on time and told the club he wanted to leave.

Every time he put on a black and white shirt, you could never complain about his attitude and professionalism. So with my professional head on, I understand why he wants to move to the champions. 

Bruno was bound to leave after Howe resigned

The Tonali deal was a very good one for Newcastle. He's a good player but he's not a £100 million player. The deal for Anthony Gordon was a good one because he hadn't played well in the league. Tonali hadn't played well in the league. Losing Isak last summer hurt, obviously. And Bruno will hurt because he's a very, very good player.

Eddie Howe was a brilliant manager and once he had left, Bruno was then done. He had the perfect excuse to say: "That's me out." Now whether he would have left if Howe had stayed, my guess is Bruno would have gone anyway. But once Eddie had left, the writing was on the wall. 

Guimarães will improve Arsenal

Arsenal are signing a top-quality player in Bruno. There's no doubt about that. They're signing a player who's so comfortable on the ball under pressure, who can make that killer pass. He's got a great attitude. We've seen that at Newcastle. So, there's no doubt he'll improve them.

With the likes of Martin Ødegaard, Declan Rice and Bruno, there won't be many better midfields than those three.

Newcastle face reality check in 2026/27

Bruno saw Newcastle, who were playing Champions League football last season and won their first trophy in a long time the season before, selling key players. He must have thought: "What's going on? This isn't a team that's probably going to finish in Champions League again."

If football was all about selling your best players every season and then replenishing the club again with young ones, everyone would do that. If it was that easy, everyone would do it. There's still three or four weeks left of the window. Newcastle have still got a lot of work to do. They've made some promising young signings and they're on the verge of appointing a promising young manager. But trust me, it's not always that easy.

With what they've signed and the manager they're bringing in, it'll be a very challenging season. It's really important that they have a good end to the transfer window because yes, they've spent some of the money that's come in for players that have left, but not all of it.

The signings they've made, and the signings hopefully they will make in the next two or three weeks, can give the fans a bit of energy, a bit of hope, that they can then compete again. They had gone a bit stale last season, certainly in the second half of the campaign.

People will have their own ideas as to why that is. Some will blame Eddie, some will blame the players and others will blame the situation at the top of the club. It's a combination of all of them because of where Newcastle are. We've punched above our weight in recent years and we've had a taste of success. And of course, once you've had a taste of it, you want more.

We might need to take a reality check this season. It could be a challenging 2026/27.

Matthias Jaissle has a big task at Newcastle

The intensity and scrutiny of managing Newcastle in the Premier League makes it a big ask for Matthias Jaissle this season. I didn't know a lot about him, know where he's been and what he's achieved and what he's done up to now. But it's a big job for anyone coming in. I don't care, even if he had 25 years of experience. Coming into a situation like this at Newcastle would be tough.

For a relatively inexperienced guy, who's 38 and probably knows very little about Newcastle and the Premier League, it's a big ask.

Newcastle have work to do in the transfer window

I have no problem with Newcastle buying now. They were burnt by what happened last preseason - one with losing Isak and two with the money spent and the lack of quality coming in. That might change. Wissa might come out and be a different person, a different player this season and Nick Woltemade might be different under a new manager with a different way of playing.

We'll have to judge that when we see it. I understand why they're going for young, hungry players. They spent a lot of money on Lewis Hall a few years ago and the've done it again this summer with Tino Livramento. So, I guess they're looking at those two and thinking we've got two good assets on our hands, and that's the way they're going now.

We need a bit of experience in that squad. Look at what Chelsea have done with Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson. The reason they've done that is because they need the experience to manage the dressing room.

We've got a couple of players like that in there, with Dan Burn and one or two others, but there's still a lot of work to be done for Newcastle in the transfer market in between now and the end of the window.

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