Newcastle sporting director Ross Wilson revealed that captain Bruno Guimaraes asked to leave the club to join Arsenal for £75 million.
The 28-year-old midfielder is set to join Arsenal, although confirmation of the move has not been officially announced yet. Speaking to reporters at Newcastle's pre-season training camp in Spain, Wilson stated that selling the team captain was not in the club's plans.
"We didn't want to sell Bruno. It wasn't in the plan to sell Bruno. None of us, or ownership, wanted to sell Bruno," Wilson said. "He's our captain, he was very, very important to us and the debate over his price, it's a world-record fee for a player of his age."
Newcastle transfer window updates
Wilson explained that Guimaraes acted respectfully and emotionally when expressing his desire to move. "That doesn't mean he can go but it certainly plays a part in what our thinking is when we hit a certain range of number," Wilson said. "But there's no point in saying it was part of our strategy and was in our thinking this summer, it wasn't. But we have got to be flexible and react to things that happen."
The midfielder's departure follows a difficult transfer window for Newcastle, who have already seen Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali exit. Head coach Eddie Howe resigned last week, with Matthias Jaissle officially appointed as his replacement on Wednesday.
