Newcastle are determined to keep Bruno Guimaraes at St James’ Park despite growing interest from Arsenal in the Brazilian midfielder.

The Magpies have already rebuffed a verbal approach for their captain, with the club’s stance made abundantly clear that he is simply not for sale.

Guimaraes’ representatives are understood to have held talks with both clubs, creating some unease on Tyneside despite the club’s firm public position.

Manager Eddie Howe is adamant about retaining his prized asset and Newcastle are expected to table a fresh contract offer to their star man in the coming weeks.

According to Mail Online, Newcastle are also drawing up contingency plans and are not relying solely on a new deal being agreed with the 28-year-old.

The club have already shown they can do business this summer, having offloaded Sandro Tonali to Tottenham in a £100million deal earlier in the transfer window.

Discussions are said to have taken place regarding Borussia Dortmund’s Felix Nmecha, who is also on Manchester United’s radar, with the German club placing an asking price of over £100million on the midfielder.

Manchester United director of football Jason Wilcox is among Nmecha’s admirers, having worked closely with the player during his 14-year stint at Manchester City’s academy.

Monaco’s Lamine Camara had also been on Newcastle’s wishlist, though that particular pursuit now appears to have stalled considerably.

This would not be the first time Arsenal have missed out on Guimaraes, with the Gunners having previously failed to sign him before Lyon secured his services and again when Newcastle acted decisively in January 2022.

“Newcastle arrived and they got serious. Bruno couldn’t wait another six months to decide his future in a World Cup year,” a source said at the time of that transfer.

Newcastle’s £40million move proved more decisive than anything Arsenal offered, a pattern the Gunners will be keen to avoid repeating this summer.

Guimaraes has featured 195 times since arriving at St James’ Park and played a crucial role as Newcastle claimed their first major domestic silverware in 70 years by winning the Carabao Cup.

With sales of both Tonali and Anthony Gordon completed this summer, Newcastle should have considerable funds available to strengthen their own squad ahead of the new season.

Arsenal, meanwhile, are also pursuing targets elsewhere, with Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers and PSG’s Bradley Barcola among those linked as Mikel Arteta seeks to strengthen the left flank of his Premier League champion side.

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