Eddie Howe is dealing with another summer of exit talk. Bruno Guimaraes is now linked with Arsenal, while Sandro Tonali also appears set to leave Newcastle United.
The captain carries more weight than a normal transfer story. He is Newcastle United’s captain and holds legendary status with supporters who have built a deep emotional bond with him.
Arsenal and Bruno Guimaraes
Guimaraes is the latest major name to attract interest as speculation spreads across the squad. Lewis Hall, Tino Livramento and Harvey Barnes have also been the subject of speculation, which turns this from a single-player story into a wider test of how Newcastle United plan to keep their core together.
David Hopkinson said in March: “Our strategy is to buy well and sell well,” and that line now sits at the centre of the club’s summer message. Newcastle United have also said they want to normalise the sale of players, including key players, as part of a sustainable trading model.
Tonali and the wider market
Tonali has reportedly been offered a vast increase by Spurs. That sits alongside other contract and wage pressure around the squad, including the fact that Alexander Isak doubled his wages when departing for Liverpool last summer and Anthony Gordon received a pay bump at Barcelona.
The money gap is plain. Spurs’ stadium income was £126.5million, with commercial revenues of £277.1m in 2025-26. Newcastle United posted £51.6m from stadium income and £120.2m in commercial revenues, which helps explain why the club keeps talking about trading rather than matching every rival bid.
Newcastle United’s sell-well line
That financial split also frames the next stage of the summer. Newcastle United will not be playing in Europe in 2026-27, and the club has been clear that player sales are part of how it wants to build around the squad-cost rules of the Premier League.
Supporters are left with the same hard edge to the story. Whether Newcastle United actually sell Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali or any of the other linked players this summer is not answered yet, but the scale of the links already points to a window that could reshape the squad rather than trim it.
