EDDIE HOWE has admitted Newcastle United cannot control the “forces that are at play” over Bruno Guimaraes – as has also conceded he will not be seeking any assurances from the Brazilian over his future when he returns to training at the end of this week.
Guimaraes’ future continues to be the subject of considerable doubt amid ongoing interest from Arsenal, who remain keen to sign the 28-year-old midfielder.
Suggestions that the Gunners have held club-to-club talks with the Newcastle hierarchy are understood to be incorrect, although Arsenal are known to have used intermediaries to have signalled their intent to pursue a move for Guimaraes.
The Brazilian is reported to have indicated that he wants to move to the Emirates Stadium while on international duty at the World Cup, although again, senior Newcastle officials continue to insist they have not received any suggestion from Guimaraes personally that he is keen to leave.
It remains to be seen whether that changes on Friday, when Guimaraes is due to link up with the Magpies’ first-team squad before heading to a training camp in La Manga.
However, even if it is business as usual in Spain next week, Howe concedes there is every chance the saga will continue to rumble on throughout the summer given the briefing and counter-briefing that has been taking place in the last few weeks,
“Any distraction, it it’s not healthy, is unhealthy,” said Howe, after watching his side continue their pre-season preparations with a 4-1 defeat to Bristol City at Ashton Gate. “So, yeah [it would be negative for the speculation to drag on].
“But we’re not in control of that. And to some degree, I don’t think Bruno’s in control of that either. What will be, will be.
“We can’t control the forces that are at play here, we’ve just got to make sure that when Bruno comes back, we look after him and he trains well, which I’m sure he will do. And he makes a difference as he always has done.”
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Last summer, Alexander Isak went on strike to force through a move to Liverpool and was left at home while the rest of Newcastle’s first-team squad travelled to the Far East for a series of pre-season games.
At this stage, there is no suggestion that Guimaraes will be following suit and Howe fully expects his club captain to be part of the squad that trains in La Manga next week before taking on Valencia in a friendly a week on Saturday.
However, the Magpies boss also concedes he will not be staging any showdown talks over the weekend and will not even seek any specific guarantees from Guimaraes over his future.
“We’ve [Howe and Guimaraes] spoken numerous times,” he said. “Assurances? I don’t think you can push too hard for those.
“I’ve said many times we want players who are committed, and Bruno has always been committed. His training performances and his game performances have been outstanding, every time he’s worn the shirt, he’s played with the fans by his side. I’d love to see that continue.
“The details [of him coming back] I don’t actually know, but I don’t see any reason why that wouldn’t be the case [him being back on Friday].”
Howe has already seen Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali leave this summer, so selling Guimaraes would create a need for an even bigger rebuilding job in the remainder of the transfer window.
“We want to keep all of our best players,” he said. “They’re so valuable. I’ve said numerous times, there’s not many of them, so to get them and develop them, when you have them, you want to keep them. Bruno’s very much in that category, he’s an outstanding player.”
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