Bruno Guimaraes has hinted that he will be part of the Newcastle United squad to face Bournemouth tonight.
Eddie Howe’s side are finally back in competitive action after the World Cup ended on Sunday, with Argentina and Lionel Messi lifting football’s most famous trophy.
It will have been a painful image for Bruno, who had been hoping to do the same with Brazil. But their World Cup adventure ended at the quarter final stage when they were beaten on penalties Croatia.
The defeat reduced Bruno to tears, and it meant his tournament ended with just two substitute appearances. It was not the World Cup we expected the 25-year-old to have, and hopefully the disappointment of Qatar can inspire Bruno to get even better in a Newcastle shirt.
And it sounds like that could start tonight against the Cherries.
Bruno Guimaraes’ message ahead of Newcastle vs Bournemouth
Ahead of tonight’s game, Bruno has taken to Twitter. He posted a graphic of pictures of himself and the match details – which I doubt he made himself.
It also included the message: “Happy to be back with my team.”
On the face of it, this is just a message that has been put out by his social media team. But a deeper dive into the midfielder’s social media activity suggests it could provide an insight into Eddie Howe’s plans.
Every game Bruno features in, he posts an image similar to this ahead of the game. And the only times that he hasn’t this season are Liverpool, Wolves and Crystal Palace – the three games he missed due to injury earlier in the season.
Therefore, the fact that Bruno has published this tweet suggests that he will at least be in Howe’s squad for the League Cup contest. Whether he starts or is on the bench remains to be seen. We have him on the bench in our predicted XI, with Jonjo Shelvey starting instead.
Bruno came on as a substitute in the last round of the Carabao Cup. However, his penalty miss nearly saw the Magpies eliminated from the competition. Luckily, Nick Pope came to Newcastle’s rescue and spared Bruno’s blushes.
More penalty drama would be agonizing for Toon fans, and it could provide flashbacks to the World Cup for Bruno. But perhaps it could offer him a chance at redemption.
As long as Newcastle make it through to the next round, that is all that matters.
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