Earlier this week we reported on Sandro Tonali and Newcastle's financial edge over Tottenham. The latest twist is Jamie Carragher's warning that the club may have to choose between Tonali and Bruno Guimarães, with the biggest offer likely to decide who stays. Carragher also pointed to Arsenal interest in Guimarães and said Manchester City could be in the picture for Tonali.
Carragher's warning on Newcastle's squad
Carragher did not dress it up. “Not a great season for them last season, but it just almost feels like that team is sort of breaking up now. Anthony Gordon has gone, Tonali is looking like he may move on. I think there's been a bid for Arsenal as well today for Bruno Guimaraes,” he said.
He went further on Guimarães, calling him “a wonderful player” and adding that he may be getting frustrated by the constant movement around him. Carragher's broader view was blunt: “I think Guimaraes and Tonali both leave a huge hole for Newcastle to fill. So, I think they probably lose one of them, and it would probably come down to who is getting offered the most money for.”
That is the part Newcastle cannot really shrug off. The club finished 12th, on 49 points, with a goal difference of -2. Those are not the numbers of a side that has made itself impossible to raid.
Tonali, Guimarães and the fee race
The Tonali side of the story has its own shape. Tottenham's initial £75 million offer was rejected, Newcastle want closer to £100 million, and Luke Edwards said Tonali would prefer Manchester City or Arsenal over Spurs. That leaves the Italy international in a market where the money and the destination may both matter.
Guimarães looks less straightforward to dislodge because Carragher clearly rates him highly. He said the Brazilian can play for top teams and pointed to his central midfield role for Brazil in the World Cup as proof of the level he is operating at. Guimarães has a 7.42 World Cup rating, along with 3 World Cup appearances and 254 minutes, which fits that view.
The safer read is that Newcastle are not being dragged into one simple Tonali-or-Guimarães binary. They are being pushed toward a sale by multiple bidders, and the decision may come down to which player brings in the biggest fee. Carragher's point is not that both are certain to go, only that one major departure may be the price of keeping the rest together.
The other problem is that the pressure is not isolated to these two names. Anthony Gordon has already gone to Barcelona in the reporting, and Carragher's warning was that losing much more after that would be too much. Newcastle's summer now looks less like a standard rebuild and more like a test of how much talent the club can hold at once.
That fee fight is the next part of the story. Tottenham's rejected £75 million bid for Tonali, the roughly £100 million valuation around both players, and the ongoing interest from Arsenal and Manchester City are the numbers to watch when the market moves again.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 5 outlets. How we work →