Bruno Guimaraes‘ former coach Fernando Diniz has heaped praise on the Newcastle United midfielder’s mentality.
The 24-year-old has worked with Diniz twice in his career during his formative years. They first met at Audax, then again at Athletico Paranaense.
Bruno has since gone on to play in the Champions League with Lyon and represent Brazil. Now he is part of the exciting project at St James’ Park.
As for Diniz, he continues to work in Brazil, and has labelled Bruno as ‘one of the great guys’ he has worked with during his career in South America.
Former coach on Bruno Guimaraes’ mentality
Diniz recently spoke to ESPN and discussed some of the exciting talents he has worked with, including Manchester United winger Antony.
The 48-year-old also talked about meeting Newcastle’s number 39, and explained what makes him so special.
“Bruno Guimarães was one of the great guys I worked with,” Diniz said.
“Mentally, he is different. I met Bruno when he was 17 at Audax and he was very immature physically. I met him again at Athletico and he was in the process of late physical maturation.
“Mentally, he would be good at anything he did: lawyer, policeman, doctor… He’s good. He has a family background, with father and mother very present. He doesn’t have a lot of stops, he just grows.”
Elite Bruno can take Newcastle to the top
The way Diniz speaks about Bruno shows exactly why he was brought to Newcastle. We needed good players, but we also needed good characters. The Brazilian is both. That’s why the Toon owners spent an initial £35million on him.
He is incredibly adaptable, as Diniz points out, and that is because of his mentality. While his former coach thinks he could be a doctor or a lawyer, we have seen Bruno fulfil different roles in a Toon shirt.
When he arrived, it looked like he would be a more defensive presence, sitting deep in front of the defence. Then he emerged as an attacking force that scored five goals in his first half a season.
The Newcastle owners have visions of the club competing for trophies and playing in Europe. With players like Bruno, that is certainly a possibility in the coming years.
His upbringing in Brazil has helped him develop into a top quality midfielder, and one who wouldn’t look out of place in most Premier League starting XIs. Luckily he belongs to Newcastle, and Toon fans absolutely love watching him play.
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