Bruno Guimaraes said he was called “crazy” for signing for Newcastle United last year. Crazier still for sitting in his first press conference and targeting Champions League football with a team that sat 18th in the Premier League.
But on Monday night, the glare of the floodlights turned down and the noise of a thunderous St James’ Park having finally subsided, he was able to reflect on a first full season that has far exceeded expectations.
“It has been such a long season,” he said, letting out a puff of his cheeks before pointing to his foot. Injuries have impacted performances lately, he has had five different injuries to his ankle in the last month and admits it has felt “weak” at points.
“I’ve had so many injuries, I pulled a hamstring, I was disappointed by the World Cup [with Brazil]. But in the end everything was alright because we got the Champions League again after 20 years, right?”
The significance of the moment is lost on nobody and while there is a legitimate debate to be had about the provenance of the funds that are powering Newcastle’s adventure, the turnaround has been remarkable. No team has improved as much.
Guimaraes has been critical to that. He tells i he never thought about crying off when he was injured because his role – “The number six, playing in behind the opposition and getting the team on the attack” – was critical to the way Newcastle play.
Such a statement sums Guimaraes up: he’s an impressive blend of tactical intelligence, technical ability and a teak tough attitude.
Newcastle have needed that this season, just as they needed characters in the dressing room prepared to put a target on their backs by making bold claims like Guimaraes’ about the top four.
“I am ambitious. This is something I have been since I remember. [I] have ambition and challenge myself,” he said.
“When I signed people say ‘You are crazy to sign for a team who could play in the Championship next season’. But here we are and we have Champions League one year after.”
The next step will be harder still. The squad will need to be beefed up, quality levels improved. No-one thinks it will be easy.
“I think the challenge will be bigger than next year,” Guimaraes said.
“I think the team has to have a goal or Champions League, not to go now and then not for ten years. We have to get used to being there.
“Like in the Carabao Cup final, we have to get used to going there. I think this is the ambition – fight for titles. The club deserves titles. Because of that I am here.”
There has been speculation that a revved up Newcastle could use the promise of Champions League football to lure the likes of Neymar to St James’ Park, opening a new front in their drive to compete for major honours.
i understands there is no substance to that talk, although those at Newcastle expect agents to once again use the perception of their limitless funds to generate buzz about their clients.
Newcastle are in DREAMLAND
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) May 18, 2023pic.twitter.com/E5Nzpp1hJp
Instead they will stick to the Guimaraes blueprint and a formula of “signing players who will go on the journey with us” like similarly successful signings Alexander Isak and Sven Botman.
Eddie Howe also rowed back against the idea that Newcastle will now have a super-sized transfer budget. “It won’t be huge numbers. I don’t think it can be,” he said on Monday, making another reference to the constraints of Financial Fair Play on Newcastle’s transfer adventures.
Transfer fees won’t be a problem for them but wage demands of their next tier of targets might be. An issue, granted, but it is a nice problem to have.
“We don’t have the ability to spend the money people will think we have, so we’re going to have to be very smart. It’ll be a small group of players, but ones we think can make a difference.” There is a caveat to that, though: Newcastle have said that in each of the last transfer windows including exhortations to that effect in January.
They then spent £45million on Anthony Gordon, and that was before the raft of new sponsorships deals that will be announced when the season concludes on Sunday.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/yqMP4Sh
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