“That’s it” – Bruno Guimaraes opens up on conversation with Man City boss Pep Guardiola | OneFootball

Newcastle United star Bruno Guimaraes has opened up on his conversation with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola over the weekend.

The two Premier League professionals went head to head on Saturday afternoon, as the reigning top-flight Champions dismissed of the north-east club courtesy of goals from Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden.

That win keeps Manchester City within touching distance of the current league leaders Arsenal, who came from 0-2 down at home to Bournemouth to win 3-2 after a 96th minute winner from Reiss Nelson.

However, while Manchester City’s scoreline may look the more convincing of the two, the display put on by their opponents from Newcastle was more than commendable, and manager Pep Guardiola was keen to praise one of Eddie Howe’s players in particular.

Speaking upon receiving the North-East Football Writers’ Player of the Year on Sunday, Bruno Guimaraes told those in attendance, “He (Pep Guardiola) told me that I was a good player. This makes me happy, because, for me, he’s the best manager that I’ve seen.”

However, the 25 year-old was keen to stress that it was merely an admirable conversation, and nothing of the sort that would equate to concrete transfer rumours linking the Brazilian with a move to the Etihad Stadium in the coming months.

Guimaraes continued, “That’s it, that’s this conversation, not more.”

The former Olympique Lyonnais star was asked however, if he can achieve his ambitions at Newcastle United and emulate the success of Pep Guardiola and Manchester City with the club, to which he boldly responded, “I think we can.

“If we see what we did last season, we were a team that was fighting against relegation. Now we have got to a final, we’re fighting for the Champions League. This club will be in the Champions League every year in the future.”

Manchester City are expected to be in the market for a new midfielder, or possibly more, during the upcoming summer transfer window, with their primary target expected to be Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham.

While the Club will sound out potential alternatives in the event of a failed pursuit of the England star, with the likes of James Maddison, Mateo Kovacic and Mason Mount all having been linked to the Etihad, Bruno Guimaraes’ comments would suggest that he can be ruled out of the equation.

Guimaraes has played an integral role in the growth of Newcastle United as a Premier League powerhouse under Eddie Howe, after joining the club in January 2022 for a fee reported to be in the region of £40 million.

In the unlikely event of a sale, the Magpies can already expect to make a significant profit on the Brazilian, such have been the quality of his performances over the past 14 months.