NEWCASTLE UNITED are growing increasingly concerned at the prospect of losing Bruno Guimaraes to Manchester City this month, and regard the Premier League champions as a much likelier destination for the Brazilian midfielder than either Arsenal or Paris St Germain.

Guimaraes’ future will be resolved before the end of the month, with his contract containing a release clause that enables clubs to complete a deal for the 26-year-old if they table a bid of £100m by June 30.

If a bid is received, and Guimaraes decides that he wants to move on, Newcastle will be powerless to retain one of their key performers from last season, with the South American, who is currently on international duty preparing for the Copa America, having started all bar one of their league matches last term.

Manchester City, Arsenal and Paris St Germain have all been strongly linked with a possible move for Guimaraes in the last few days, but Newcastle officials are understood to regard the former as by far the biggest threat to their hopes of avoiding an unwanted departure.

Manchester City are set to make midfield changes this summer, with last summer’s £53m purchase of Matheus Nunes not having gone to plan. It was hoped Nunes would become a regular presence within City’s first-choice midfield last season, but instead, he made just seven Premier League starts, with Pep Guardiola seemingly reluctant to trust him.

Kalvin Phillips is expected to make a permanent departure from the Etihad this summer, having suffered a disastrous loan spell at West Ham in the second half of last season, meaning Guardiola is keen to sign another central midfielder. There have been suggestions in the last few days that Jack Grealish could be sacrificed to ensure City, who are embroiled in a series of disputes with the Premier League, do not fall foul of the current Profit and Sustainability rules.

Guardiola has expressed his admiration for Guimares on a number of occasions in the last couple of years, and speaking most recently in March, he said: “He is an exceptional holding midfielder. He is aggressive, with the ball or without the ball. At set-pieces, he’s aggressive and is a real, complete holding midfielder.”

READ MORE:

Guimaraes expressed his love for Newcastle in an interview in his homeland last week, but also conceded that he could not be certain what his future might hold. While Newcastle officials are reasonably confident they could persuade him to turn down approaches from Arsenal or PSG, they fear they could be fighting a losing battle if he is offered a move to the Etihad.

While Newcastle need to be creative with their transfer business this summer in order to remain within the Premier League rules, there is a strong determination to hold on to both Guimaraes and Alexander Isak if at all possible.

Yankuba Minteh could be sacrificed instead, with the Gambian winger, who is rated at around £40m, the subject of increasingly strong interest from Liverpool. Minteh has not played a senior game for Newcastle, having spent last season on loan at Feyenoord, but he could be moved on this summer if his departure avoids the need to sell more established members of Eddie Howe’s first-team squad.