At last, Bruno Guimaraes looks close to signing a new contract at Newcastle United.
During the summer, arguably Newcastle’s most important player in the PIF era admitted there was a “doubt” in regards to his signing of a new deal, though Fabrizio Romano provided some good news on Friday.
Indeed, Guimaraes is reportedly on the verge of penning a new deal on Tyneside, which would presumably represent a significant pay rise to the four-and-a-half year contract he initially signed in January 2022.
Still, while that is clearly a positive, there may be a catch.
Luke Edwards suggests Bruno Guimaraes may have a release clause in his new contract
After the news came out, the Daily Telegraph’s Luke Edwards shared some further insight on Twitter.
According to Edwards, there may be a release clause in any new contract Guimaraes signs, potentially up towards over £100m.
The deal isn’t said to be done but there is said to have been significant progress during talks of late.
That may be necessary
While Guimaraes is clearly not in a rush to leave Newcastle any time soon, he has attracted interest from some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
Real Madrid have been touted as a potential landing spot at some point in his career and although Newcastle are one of the most upwardly mobile clubs in Europe, surely few would doubt Los Blancos have a certain pull.
If the club are going to keep Guimaraes long-term, a release clause might be a necessary concession.
That way, Newcastle are protected and know it will take huge money to sign their star man, while Guimaraes knows that a move to a club such as Madrid is possible should they pay up.
In an ideal world of course, the “magnificent” midfielder would stay at St James’ Park for the rest of his career.
In reality, however, at least a very high release clause protects Newcastle.
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