Bruno Guimaraes set out to become a legend at Newcastle United and the midfielder is already on his way to doing just that. That really is saying something after just nine months at the club.
Bruno is not just doing his talking on the field, either, and, after delivering a man of the match display against Brentford on Saturday, the Brazil international described links to Real Madrid as 'nothing'. Bruno went on to declare that Newcastle will be 'one of the best projects in the world'.
Bruno feels at home on Tyneside and has received the sort of welcome he would struggle to find elsewhere in Europe. Where else would the 24-year-old have his name chanted when he makes a tackle or a smart pass?
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With that in mind, ChronicleLive understands Bruno is 'very happy' at Newcastle and that should not come as a huge surprise given that adulation has been matched by the club's ambition. This is not the Ashley era, after all, where a move to St James' Park was effectively sold as a stepping stone to Yohan Cabaye in 2011 or where Ayoze Perez felt he had to leave the club for Leicester City in 2019 because of a lack of ambition. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Indeed, at Bruno's unveiling press conference back in February, the midfielder vowed that Newcastle were 'going to be a big power in world football'. Explaining the vision sold to him, Bruno revealed the owners' main objective in the years to come was to qualify for the Champions League and one day win the trophy.
Newcastle have a lot of work to do, of course, to reach those levels in the coming years, but that remains the long-term goal. As chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan reiterated in an open letter last week: "Each season is a building block towards our objective - to challenge for trophies both domestically and in Europe."
Bruno will be a big part of that and, at 24, the Brazil international was identified as a key player who could grow with the club. Being one of the first standard bearers of this new era certainly appealed to Bruno as well as the fact Newcastle were prepared to move quickly for the former Lyon star in January when other suitors preferred to wait until the summer.
Bruno felt wanted and did not demand any escape clauses in his contract - even though Newcastle were 18th in the table when he joined. That gives you an insight into the character Howe rates as highly as the footballer, which really is a compliment.
As a player, after all, there are few midfielders like Bruno, who can press and win the ball back but, also, carry it forward and create chances, too, with his vision and passing range. Bruno has also added goals to his game since joining the club and no other Newcastle player has found the back of the net more often since his top-flight debut last February.
These displays have not gone unnoticed and Bruno is known to have admirers at Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool in this country alone who, privately, have recognised and rued an astute piece of business by Newcastle. Yet, unlike the Ashley era, Newcastle are not only in a position where they would be able to turn down big-money bids in the years to come. Crucially, the Magpies now have the ambition to keep hold of key players like Bruno as they approach their peak years and there is a lot more to come from the £40m man.
It is easy to forget that Bruno has only started 17 games for Newcastle and there is an understandable belief within the club that the Brazil international will only get better as the Magpies continue to recruit more players like him in the years to come. Howe, for one, certainly recognises the need to keep pace with the 24-year-old's own lofty ambitions.
"It will in part come down to how well we perform and where the team goes in terms of satisfying players who do well for us over an extended period of time," Howe told reporters earlier this season. "Bruno has just started his journey with us. We desperately want him to grow with the team.
"We want to make the team stronger and to show his qualities even more. That is our aim, but he's done so well in a short period of time. The supporters love him, we love him and I think he's in a good place."
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