Bruno Guimaraes was in inspired defensive form on Friday

Newcastle United’s Brazilian superstar Bruno Guimaraes put in a phenomenal display against Nottingham Forest on Friday, and while it may not have been as eye-catching is some performances, what he did on Friday was much more important.

Bruno Guimaraes didn’t take long to win over the Toon Army when he arrived from Lyon in January 2022 for £40million. He was eased into the side by Eddie Howe and quickly adapted to the English game and suddenly found himself regularly among the goals for Newcastle.

Bruno was brought in as a defensive midfielder originally, but seemed to develop a flair for going forward and scoring crucial goals as he helped Newcastle climb out of the relegation places and to an ultimate 11th place Premier League finish.

Bruno was rock solid against Forest

This season gum-chewing hero hasn’t found the net on a regular basis, but is no less of a key figure in Howe’s team. In fact, what he does now flies under the radar, but the stats from Friday against Nottingham Forest show why he was signed in the first place.

A tweet from Mozo Football highlighted Bruno’s defensive strength revealing his 100% success rate: “Bruno Guimaraes was 100% in all his successful tackles (3/3), ground duel battles (7/7) and aerial duel battles (2/2) for Newcastle United against Nottingham Forest. One of the best midfielders in the Premier League.”

You don’t need to tell Newcastle fans that he’s one of the best in the league, we’re very aware of what a player we have among our ranks.

There doesn’t seem to be an end to his talents. He’s just as comfortable striding forward to help Newcastle bag goals as he is at making sure the opposition don’t get to our back four.

While he may be one of our most expensive signings, we still got him for an absolute snip of what he’s worth. He has to be considered as a plus £100million player.

Building a team around Bruno will only make him even better

With Real Madrid sniffing around, throwing a figure like that around might keep them at bay while Newcastle tie him down to a new contract with improved terms as they build the future squad around him.

He will only get better with better players around him. If he knows he’s got the talent around him to cover for him, it will allow him to be even more expressive in the way he plays. Not that he doesn’t already, but there’d be a huge difference from him if he had other players at his level and on his wavelength around him.

Next season will be huge if Dan Ashworth and Eddie Howe manage to secure their top targets this summer. We will see an increase in Bruno’s output which, along with the new signings, will take us up to the next level.

Should we qualify for the Champions League this season, the calibre of player we’ll be able to attract this summer will have Bruno’s eyes lighting up.