Bruno Guimar\u00e3es is increasingly being linked with a move to Arsenal, and the signs point in one direction even if nothing has been completed. He is thought to be keen on the switch to North London, while his absence from Newcastle\u2019s squad for its preseason training camp in Spain has only intensified the expectation that a transfer could be close.<\/p>\n
If Arsenal do get the deal over the line, Mikel Arteta would be adding a midfielder with a rare range of qualities. Guimar\u00e3es can operate as a holding player, step into a creative role or drive the team forward as a box-to-box presence, giving the manager a level of flexibility few players offer.<\/p>\n
One option would be to keep the 4-2-3-1 shape Arsenal used across much of their 2025-26 Premier League title-winning season. That system usually featured Declan Rice and Mart\u00edn Zubimendi as the double pivot, with a No. 10 in front of them, wingers on either side and a lone striker leading the line. In that scenario, Rice would almost certainly keep his place, which would leave Zubimendi as the likeliest player to step aside, even after a strong first season at the Emirates.<\/p>\n
The logic is clear enough. Guimar\u00e3es spent large parts of last season in a midfield two alongside Sandro Tonali, but was still able to move higher, join attacks and make late runs into the box. That freedom helped him finish with nine Premier League goals and six assists. The complication is that Rice also likes to advance, while Arteta may be reluctant to reduce Zubimendi\u2019s influence after how valuable he became.<\/p>\n
A second route may be more realistic: removing the No. 10 role altogether. Arsenal would still have width from Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka, while Noni Madueke and new signing Christos Tzolis provide further options. That would put Martin \u00d8degaard\u2019s place under pressure. It would be a major call to leave out the captain, but his attacking return has dipped over the last two seasons. Last year, he managed just one goal and seven assists in 24 appearances, and often struggled to supply the decisive creative touch associated with him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Guimar\u00e3es could alter Arsenal\u2019s shape, with Rice, Zubimendi and \u00d8degaard all affected by Arteta’s choices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18211,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[192,1843],"tags":[1836,1629,1845],"class_list":["post-18212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal","category-arsenal-transfer-news","tag-2026-27-premier-league","tag-arsenal-captain","tag-arsenal-transfer-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}