The pressure was on when Bruno Guimaraes became Newcastle’s first major signing under their new Saudi owners, but the move has fulfilled all of his dreams.
That’s even despite the belief he was being pursued by rivals Arsenal, who could this season become Premier League champions.
The Brazilian midfielder burst onto the scene in January 2020 with Lyon following his move to Europe, stunning audiences with a pair of Man of the Match display to knock Juventus out of the Champions League last-16.
He then helped send Manchester City packing, and it was clear Guimaraes was destined for the big time, with links to Europe’s elite popping up everywhere.
Premier League leaders Arsenal were one of the teams heavily associated with a deal but, thanks to Newcastle’s controversial big-money takeover, the Magpies were able to beat them all to seal the signing.
In their announcement video of the 24-year-old’s arrival, Guimaraes’ links to Arsenal were also shown in a series of headlines from sports websites, which was taken by many as a dig at the Gunners.
But, as the player told talkSPORT, he has no regrets regarding the noise around Arsenal.
“Yeah it was a fantastic move for me,” he said in an exclusive interview with Jim White. “I think it was the best thing that could have happened in my life was to join Newcastle.
“I’m so happy here, I’m living my dreams here, I’ve been playing very, very well since I signed for the club. I think the job of the guys, the job of the manager making me happy here, making my family happy, making me dream.
“Since I signed on my first day I said I’d like to play Champions League with this shirt, and the people said I was crazy because we were fighting for relegation and saying ‘this guy’s so ambitious’.
“Yeah I am ambitious and I will keep my ambitions because my life is like that and I’m proud to have what I’ve been doing here.”
Of Newcastle’s many recruits since their Saudi takeover, Guimaraes has arguably been the most successful, and almost certainly sold the most shirts.
Fans have quickly fallen for the Rio native, who explained why he thinks that’s happened. He said: “Yeah this is true [the fans love me]. I think it’s because we show our passion for the fans, for the club, to everyone and we respect everyone as well we try to give our best, always when we put on the shirt.
“I think the fans love it because we respect the shirt, we love them and it’s because of that they love us as well.
“Yeah I will [stay here for a long time], I’ve said that I’d like to put my name in the club’s history and I’m thinking that I’m in a good way.
“It’s still a lot to do but it’s lucky in my first full season we are fighting for the Champions League, for the big things, we’ve got one final already here, so yes I think I am in the right way to put my name in the club’s history.”
When asked about winning the Premier League title in a Newcastle shirt, he added: “I think it’s possible, it’s because of that that I signed for the club.
“I believe in the process, I believe in the project, I believe in the new owners, I think the club needed to get to a final, waited for a long time and we already got the final.
“It’s not easy, we already played Manchester United who are in a very good way, but we had the feeling that we could beat them.
“It still pains us [that they lost the EFL Cup final to the Red Devils] and we need to put this anger in the league to get a place in the Champions League.
“But I think we need to keep working and of course it’s possible.”
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