Howe has been buzzing with £40m NUFC star during the international break

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Eddie Howe performed his media duties this morning ahead of tomorrow’s clash with in-form Brentford and the Newcastle United boss reserved praise for one of his top stars.

One man has been the focus of a lot of attention around Newcastle this season, be it his drop off in form or the fact that some big clubs have reportedly been trying to lure him away from Newcastle, or even contract talks, Bruno Guimaraes has never been far away from the headlines.

The question marks over Guimaraes’ form aren’t unjustified as he’s not looked himself for a while now, but his performances for Brazil during the international break have suggested Newcastle might about to get their Bruno back.

Eddie Howe called Bruno Guimaraes the ‘Catalyst’ for Newcastle

That’s something that Eddie Howe himself believes too telling the gathered media masses this morning, (via The Chronicle): “He’s been positive. Performed really well in both Brazil games. He’s come back with a spring in his step. He’s such a big figure and a catalyst for our work.”

Even an off-form Bruno Guimaraes is better than what Newcastle have had at their disposal for years so it’s no surprise he kept his place in the side even when his form dropped.

It’s clear that Howe trusts his £40million signing from Lyon, and sees him as an integral cog in the machine.

If Bruno plays for Newcastle like he did for Brazil he’d be unstoppable

The one downside with what Howe has said is that a lot of sides have worked out that so much of our play goes through Guimaraes and the best way of shutting us down is by stopping Bruno from playing his game.

With that in mind, Howe should be looking to switch things up a bit to keep teams guessing, but that doesn’t necessarily mean dropping Bruno, just switching up the style somewhat.

Saying that, when Bruno is on his game there aren’t many sides who could stop him no matter what they try, so if he comes back to Newcastle with that same intensity he played with for Brazil, then Brentford are going to have a long afternoon tomorrow.