Newcastle star Bruno Guimaraes has appeared to hit back at The Northern Echo's chief sports writer who argued the club could sell him in January.

In a column on Monday, Scott Wilson said Newcastle needed to "Sell in order to buy" and Guimaraes was a player who could be let go in order to fund a "root-and-branch reform" of the squad.

The Brazilian midfielder, who has been a revelation since joining the club in January 2022, appeared to hit back at the column, posting a story on Instagram three hours after the Echo post saying: "They say you don't know what you have until it's gone.

"Truth is, you knew what you had, you just thought you'd never lose it."

It was the second cryptic message in as many days from the Newcastle captain, with a story on Instagram on December 1 which said "Pare de regar uma flora morta" which translates to "Stop watering a dead flower" in his native language Portuguese.

(Image: @brunoguimaraes on Instagram) Most read in sports

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(Image: Sarah Caldecott / PA) It comes after a dismal display by the Magpies away to Crystal Palace on Saturday where the club failed to register a single shot on target despite clawing a 1-1 draw against the Eagles.

"It’s time for Newcastle to bite the bullet and sell a prime asset to create an opportunity for major investment – and that means one of Bruno Guimaraes, Anthony Gordon or Alexander Isak," Wilson said in his column - which you can read here.

"Sell [Bruno] for £100m, bring in a proper defensive midfielder for a fraction of that sum and you’ll still have plenty of money to spend on the rest of the squad.

"Selling a leading star is never nice."