Newcastle United have secured the signing of Brazil international Bruno Guimaraes from Lyon for a fee that could reportedly rise to a club-record figure.
Guimaraes has agreed a four-and-a-half-year contract at St James' Park having completed a medical while away with Brazil on international duty.
Newcastle are reaching the end of their first transfer window under new ownership, with the club now backed by a consortium led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF).
The PIF has become the sport's richest owner, yet Eddie Howe's side have been frustrated for much of January in their bid to improve a struggling team.
Newcastle are 18th in the Premier League, a point shy of safety, but had targeted this month to invest in the playing squad and pull clear of trouble.
Kieran Trippier arrived early on from Atletico Madrid in a major coup, only for attempts to land a centre-back to prove frustrating – neither Lille, for Sven Botman, nor Sevilla, for Diego Carlos, agreeing to deals.
While Chris Wood was added in attack, Newcastle remain at the centre of attention in the final throes of the window.
The arrival of midfielder Guimaraes therefore represents a significant boost to Howe and the owners after ultimately successful negotiations with Lyon.
Reports at the start of the week suggested a fee between £30million (€36m) and £33.3m (€40m) had been set and a transfer was imminent. However, Lyon "categorically denied" these claims.
Instead, a subsequent agreement said to be worth £35m (€42m) was reached, with bonuses potentially boosting the amount to £41.6m (€50m). That would surpass the £40m Newcastle spent on Guimaraes' compatriot Joelinton.
What does Bruno bring to the Toon?
With only Wolves starting attacks closer to their own goal this season than Newcastle (39 metres on average), Guimaraes will have a key role in converting defence to attack and getting the Magpies further up the pitch.
The 24-year-old has played 226 passes into the final third in Ligue 1 this season – more than any other player. Jonjo Shelvey leads Newcastle in this regard with only 100.
Guimaraes has three assists to Shelvey's zero, while he ranks third in Ligue 1 (behind Dimitri Payet and Kylian Mbappe) with 33 chances created from open play.
Crucially, Guimaraes can be a player for both the team Newcastle hope to be and the position they currently find themselves in.
Third among Ligue 1 midfielders for both passes attempted (1,329) and completed (1,170), the new man would fit seamlessly into a dominant, possession-based side.
However, Guimaraes should also be up for the fight, winning 158 duels this term – tied for the fourth-most in Ligue 1.
New team-mate Joelinton, converted into a midfielder under Howe, is third in the Premier League with 150 duels won and leads the division with 92 since the coach's November appointment.
Philippe Clement urges Rangers to rediscover their composure for Hearts cup semi
Philippe Clement is adamant under-pressure Rangers will focus fully on playing to their own strengths in Sunday’s Scottish Gas Scottish Cup semi-final with Hearts.
The Ibrox side head into the Hampden showdown on the back of a damaging run of two wins from their last eight games in all competitions, with their cinch Premiership title bid having been dented significantly by a return of just two points from their last three matches.
Hearts, by contrast, go into the match buoyed by back-to-back wins over St Mirren and Livingston and are 11 points clear of their nearest rivals in their quest to secure third place in the table.
Clement dismissed any notion that his side must adapt their game-plan in any way to deal with Steven Naismith’s on-form team and instead must simply attempt to play their own game to a higher standard than they have been recently.
“I don’t counter anything,” he said. “We will play our own game, we don’t need to counter another team.
“We are going to play our own game and believe in ourselves and show our qualities.
“To win we need a better performance than we had on Wednesday (in the 0-0 draw at Dundee), for sure. We need to do the right things against Hearts who have played a very good season.
“It’s a very interesting test for the players and I know they are all hungry to go to the final. They’ve had the experience of going to a final and winning it (the Viaplay Cup) and some of them have won several already so the mood is big.”
Clement felt some anxiety crept into Rangers’ play on Wednesday and caused them to go too direct, so he has called for them to rediscover their composure when in possession.
“Against Dundee we were too direct so we lost the balance in that way,” he said. “Sometimes we wanted to play too fast and it’s finding that good balance by showing it with images and what we need to do and take lessons out of that.
“Maybe the hunger was too big to go too fast forward. We need to find a good balance and do that in a better way against Hearts.”
Rangers have been subjected to ferocious criticism recently and Clement admits he will find out a lot about his players in terms of how they respond under pressure in the coming weeks.
“It is easy to be good and be happy when it goes easy,” he said. “It is when the going gets tough you see the personality and the character.
“Players can grow in this. It is a growing experience. It is not only from nature that you have this, you can grow in that.
“That is an important part of being part of this club. It is also something that Nils (Koppen, director of football recruitment) knows really well, it is something to look at in recruitment also.”
Fulham boss Marco Silva will continue to demand more from Andreas Pereira as the Brazilian looks to maintain his form heading into the closing weeks of the Premier League season.
Pereira scored both goals in Fulham’s 2-0 victory at West Ham last weekend, which was a first win in four matches.
The former Manchester United attacking midfielder had not found the net since August, but is top of Fulham’s assists with eight so far.
The consistency of Pereira, who was born in Belgium, has seen him recalled into the Brazil national team, featuring in both March friendlies against England at Wembley and then Spain.
Silva feels the 28-year-old, who had a successful loan spell at Flamengo before signing for Fulham in the summer of 2022, still has plenty more to offer.
“Andreas, last season made a huge impact. Before he joined us, he played more as a second midfielder and not so offensive,” the Fulham boss said.
“This season, he is going to have one of the best assist records for us – and we will demand more.
“Last week, he showed the desire to arrive in the right areas.”
Fulham host Liverpool on Sunday looking to further dent the Reds’ ambitions.
Jurgen Klopp’s side were knocked out of the Europa League by Atalanta and also slumped to what could prove a costly home defeat against Crystal Palace to lose ground in the Premier League title race.
Fulham have pushed Liverpool in each of their three meetings this season, being narrowly edged out 4-3 after a dramatic finish at Anfield in their league match at the start of December followed by what was a tight Carabao Cup semi-final over two legs.
“Probably some of them (have been) too open for a manager to enjoy, but yes, at Anfield and at the Cottage as well, they have been really – in some moments – emotional games, in other moments entertaining,” Silva said at a press conference.
“Tight games always, in some of them dramatic ends of the match. But even last season, it was really tough for them to come to play at Craven Cottage (in the) Carabao Cup this season, too.”
Silva added: “We want to make life really difficult for Liverpool, to give them a match.
“Let’s hope we can get a different result than the last games that we played against them.
Fulham could yet challenge for a top-10 finish.
“I think we are in the best moment of the season,” Silva said. “We haven’t had big injuries in the last month and a half, or two months.
“It, of course, creates a competition inside our squad that helps myself and the players to reach a different level and good headaches for me to decide, which is always the better situation to plan a game and prepare for the next game.”
Jurgen Klopp: Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota give Liverpool ‘a chance’
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes the return of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota gives their title hopes a much-needed boost.
Defeat to Crystal Palace last weekend saw Klopp’s side drop to third as Manchester City moved into a two-point lead at the top of the table.
But with results faltering, the performance by Alexander-Arnold in the Europa League win over Atalanta, particularly in the first half, has offered renewed hope.
The defender was making his first start since mid-February after a knee injury and, while Jota has yet to have the same impact in three relatively short substitute appearances after a similar two-month lay-off, the clinical nature of his game could offset some of the deficiencies currently being experienced by his fellow forwards.
“We need Trent Alexander-Arnold, of course, but we need him in a really good shape and form and that’s what he has to get up to,” said Klopp ahead of the trip to Fulham.
“It’s not about him and it’s not his fault if he wouldn’t be, it’s just the situation. So how quick can we get him rolling if you want – the same for Diogo.
“We have to find a way to help the boys in the best way, to bring them as quick as possible into their best form or shape and from there we have to go.
“Without them we wouldn’t have a chance. With them we have a chance, with them in a really good football moment the chance gets bigger and bigger.”
Klopp remains positive about their chances despite recent failures and feels six wins could see them snatch the title from the grasp of their rivals.
Although a Europa League exit on aggregate was disappointing there were positives to take from the game.
Alexander-Arnold’s display, drifting infield to dictate play and even popping up in the centre-forward’s position on occasions in Bergamo, was one and a first clean sheet in 10 matches was another.
With struggles up front continuing – Liverpool have scored only two goals in the opening 15 minutes in a league game this season – a more solid backline offers a better platform and that is why Klopp is optimistic.
“I don’t have a lot of qualities but I am always completely honest. If I don’t feel great the players feel it pretty quickly,” he said.
“I cannot really deny or just keep it under the carpet so that means after the game against Palace people ask ‘What do you tell the team now?’.
“But here we are a few days later and I feel absolutely great, I see the good in the situation where we are. It is fantastic.
“The boys know that I don’t tell them things which I don’t believe in and I am 100 percent sure we can really win all of the games we will have to from now on.
“What should influence us more: the last game, the last week or is it the chance in front of us?
“I am fully (of the opinion) that there is a next chance for us and we can turn things absolutely around in all departments. We can make it still an outstanding season.
“It will be a good season but of course how you look at it is in the end is massively influenced by the last part of it.”
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