Bruno Guimaraes: Arsenal's Third Attempt to Sign the Star Midfielder
Bruno Guimaraes knows all about waiting.
Six and a half years ago, the Athletico Paranaense midfielder sat in Curitiba, phone glued to his hand, mind racing. He had dominated the Furacão midfield, lifted trophies, caught Europe’s eye. The next step seemed clear. Atletico Madrid. La Liga. A £26million deal close enough for him to choke back tears as he waved goodbye to the home crowd after a 1-0 win over Santos.
Christmas came and went. The January window opened. Nothing.
Atletico stalled. Benfica moved. Then another name entered the room. Arsenal.
Edu, the Gunners’ technical director, had tracked Guimaraes’ rise as he drove Athletico to four trophies, including the Copa do Brasil and Copa Sudamericana. Arsenal made a direct move to his camp, sensing an opportunity. But their budget was tight, the numbers awkward. While they shuffled, someone else acted.
Lyon, armed with Juninho Pernambucano and a clear message.
Juninho, one of Guimaraes’ idols from his Vasco da Gama days, told the hungry 22-year-old what every ambitious midfielder wants to hear: sign for Lyon and you can become one of the best in the world. Coming from him, it hit differently. This was not just a sales pitch. This was a hero opening a door.
Guimaraes, a devoted Vasco supporter who would still be in the stands for a 1-1 draw with Mirassol as recently as July 26, listened. The French club moved decisively, agreeing a £17.1m deal. When he put pen to paper on a long-term contract, he made his feelings about Atletico’s hesitation plain.
“Nobody called me,” he said. The club that once led the race had simply drifted away. They would regret it.
Two years later, the setting was different but the message was the same: if you want Bruno Guimaraes, you have to show it.
By then, he was in Brazil with the national team when Newcastle United flew in for a medical. The location underlined how far he’d come. From overlooked futsal hopeful in Rio to Brazil international, commanding Premier League money.
Arsenal were there again, watching, interested, but not all-in. Their midfield rebuild had already brought in Martin Odegaard and Albert Sambi Lokonga the previous summer. Newcastle, fuelled by new financial power, did not hesitate. They paid. They believed.
Arsenal hesitated again. And again, they paid a different price.
A few months later, Guimaraes scored and ran the game in Newcastle’s 2-0 win over Arsenal, a result that helped knock Mikel Arteta’s side off course in the race for Champions League football. From that night on, he relished facing them. He pressed, he snapped into tackles, he drove his team forward. He irritated them.
No opponent has felt his presence more in the Premier League. He has won 71 duels against Arsenal, more than against any other side. He never let them forget what they could have had.
To understand why he chooses like this, you have to go back to Rio.
As a boy, Guimaraes loved futsal. He tried out at Fluminense. Rejected. He tried at Botafogo. Rejected again. The path was not smoothed for him; he carved it himself, with his father right behind him.
Dick, his dad, drove 269 miles every weekend from Rio to Osasco, just to watch his son play for Audax in São Paulo. Long, punishing trips, week after week. The support was unwavering, but it came with a sharp edge.
If Bruno lost, the post-match meal was a ham and cheese sandwich and juice. Nothing more. If he won, he could eat whatever he wanted. The lesson was clear: performance had consequences. He still treasures those memories, those drives, those bargains. They are literally on his back, tattooed into his story.
Even his shirt number carries that history. No.39, the number he is set to wear for Arsenal, was the number of his father’s taxi in Rio. The same cab that ferried him to youth games, the same cab that symbolised his family’s grind.
At Arsenal, that number has already been quietly prepared for him. Young academy midfielder Louie Copley, who suffered a serious knee injury against Real Betis in midweek, had been training and playing in 39. On the club’s website, he is now listed as No.38. The path is clear. The shirt that means so much to Guimaraes is waiting.
This time, Arsenal did not dither.
After twice watching him slip away—first to Lyon, then to Newcastle—Arteta was not about to let a third opportunity vanish. The club pushed through a £75m deal for a player they had admired for years. The negotiations dragged, the saga tested patience, but the direction never really changed. Arsenal wanted him. Properly, visibly, expensively.
For Guimaraes, that matters. His career has followed a simple rule: he goes where he feels wanted. From the sting of youth-team rejections to Atletico’s silence, from Juninho’s conviction to Newcastle’s commitment, he has always followed the clearest show of faith.
Now, finally, that faith comes from north London.
Third time, Arsenal got it right. Third time, they got their man.
Bruno Guimaraes is a Gunner.
