Eddie Howe is adamant he intends to keep Bruno Guimarães at Newcastle long term but acknowledges he would be “absolutely foolish” to offer any guarantees.
The Brazil midfielder’s contract contains a £100m release clause and he is much admired by, among others, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City. “Players like Bruno are not around every corner,” said Newcastle’s manager. “They are very, very rare. Bruno should be appreciated for everything he brings.”
Howe accepts that the need to meet Premier League profit and sustainability rules dictates the Saudi Arabian-owned club will, sooner or later, be forced to sell a marquee player and, with Sweden’s Alexander Isak seemingly set to stay put, Guimarães appears the most likely candidate.
“My intention would be to keep Bruno for as long as we possibly can because I can,” Howe said. “But I can never make guarantees because that would be absolutely foolish of me. I’ve been in football long enough to know you never know what is going to happen tomorrow. But he’s an integral part of the team and playing really well at the moment. A lot will depend on our ambitions and where the club is going in the foreseeable future. We need to show we’re moving forward.”
The best way of avoiding PSR penalties is for clubs to increase their commercial revenues and that explains why Newcastle are flying to Australia for controversial friendlies against Tottenham and an A-League All Stars side in Melbourne three days after the Premier League season ends.
Both clubs are committed to fielding strong XIs and Howe is resigned to the need to take his injury-ravaged squad on the 21,000-mile round trip. “I don’t think it’s something that, being honest in my position, I’d say I want to go. This is something from a physical perspective after a long season we probably wouldn’t want to do.
“But I understand the club’s position and we will back it. If the club says we’re going then I’m 100% in with everyone else. We respect the club and respect the demands. The club is growing very quickly so when asked to do these things we will do them with the best attitude we can.”
Howe has told his players to ignore criticism from fans “without intellect” on social media. “A lot of people would not have the intellect to give a proper assessment,” he said. “The trouble with social media is that it’s faceless. If you open yourself up to too many opinions, you have no idea where they’re coming from. That’s why the players are better off keeping their circle of friends very, very small and listening to the people they really trust and believe in.”
