Newcastle hold increasing Manchester City ‘concern’ over future of £100 million midfielder

Manchester City’s interest and ongoing presence in the hunt for Newcastle United’s Bruno Guimaraes is causing ‘increasing concern’ at St James’ Park.

The future of Guimaraes will be resolved before the end of June, with his current Newcastle contract containing a release clause that enables clubs to complete a deal for the 26-year-old if they put forward a bid of £100 million by June 30.

Manchester City are insistent on recruiting in several midfield roles this summer, as they prepare for life without Kevin De Bruyne or Bernardo Silva in the coming years, source a back-up option for Rodri, and add depth into their central ranks.

The previous summer window saw Etihad officials sign both Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea and Matheus Nunes from Wolverhampton Wanderers, however the performances of the latter in particular have failed to inspire and City are expected to turn to the market again.

That search has taken them to Newcastle United and the profile of highly-rated Brazil international Bruno Guimaraes, who has excelled since making the move to St James’ Park in light of their takeover by Saudi Arabia ownership.

According to the information of The Northern Echo’s Scott Wilson, Newcastle United are ‘growing increasingly concerned’ at the prospect of losing Bruno Guimaraes to Manchester City this month.

It is further explained that those at St James’ Park regard the Etihad Stadium as a ‘much likelier’ destination for the Brazilian international midfielder than either Arsenal or Paris St Germain.

Targets elsewhere in the world of top-level midfielders are few and far between, however a number of additional names have been linked with tenuous interest from Manchester City in the last few months.

Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich is among the names understood to have interested Etihad Stadium recruitment chiefs, while his fellow Allianz Arena athlete Jamal Musiala has admirers at the Premier League champions over a longer-term approach.

Most recently however, City have been linked with the hugely exciting midfield talent Adam Wharton of Crystal Palace, who has also booked himself a spot in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the upcoming European Championships.