Bruno Guimarães' new Newcastle contract includes a Barcelona clause

Despite the arrival of Oriol Romeu, Barcelona have not abandoned their search for midfielders on the international market. The club feel the signing of Romeu is a short-term solution, but they still need another deep midfielder. One of the options they like, however utopian it may seem, is Newcastle's Bruno Guimaraes.

Valued by Transfermarkt at €85 million, Guimaraes swapped Olympique Lyon for Newcastle in January 2022 for a fee of €42m. The Brazilian's performances led the 'Magpies' to want to renew him as soon as possible. Earlier this month, the midfielder extended his contract until 30 June 2028, a move that puts all the power in his current club's hands in the face of a hypothetical negotiation to leave.

Clause in case Barça come calling

However, SPORT have learned that Guimaraes' renewal with Newcastle includes a secret clause in Barça's favour. If the Catalanb club were to make a bid for the pivot, the transfer price would be somewhat lower than if another club were to bid for his services. In other words, there is a price for Barça and a price for other teams.

The figure stipulated for Barça to take the player is around €65-70m euros, an amount that today is still very difficult for the club, whose treasury is not ready to launch rockets. Although the operation seems more than complicated at present, it can never be completely ruled out, as hypothetical major sales next summer would improve Barça's purchasing power.

Despite being aware that the Catalan club is not in a position today for poker games of such calibre, Guimaraes does not lose hope of one day wearing the Blaugrana shirt. In the past, he has already made several nods to Barça and in the private sphere he makes no secret of the fact that he would love to join Barcelona and the club. It remains to be seen whether their paths will cross one day.