While most of the talk surrounding Newcastle United has centred around players coming into the club, a few have been linked away.
Though the prospect of selling key players is no longer as great now Newcastle are in the PIF era, Bruno Guimaraes has attracted interest.
Real Madrid have been touted as a potential landing spot, while Liverpool reportedly made a late bid to sign the 25-year-old.
Now, more information has emerged.
Indeed, it seems another two clubs tried their luck.
Chelsea and Manchester City made approaches to sign Bruno Guimaraes this summer
According to 90 Min, both Chelsea and Manchester City made enquiries to sign the Brazil international this summer.
Still, perhaps unsurprisingly, Newcastle did not entertain any talk their star man could leave, particularly to a Premier League rival.
It is said Guimaraes never came close to an exit and that the club have not shown any desire to cash in.
Guimaraes still has a lot do at Newcastle
Perhaps the Brazil star will leave one day but there’s still a lot of work to do at St James’ Park.
Guimaraes has largely been excellent since signing from Lyon but this season is proving more difficult. Yet to play at anywhere close to his best level, the mark of a top player is to follow up impressive performances season after season.
It would be foolish to write him off of course and Guimaraes is far from the only player underperforming right now but a relative dip underlines just how much more work there is to do.
If Guimaraes wants to be considered one of the truly top players in his position in Europe, an improvement is needed. Leading Newcastle to the Champions League once is one thing, doing it consistently is another entirely.
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