Edwards fires back at Ghodoussi after £50m Bruno Guimarães to Arsenal report sparks public row

A public dispute has broken out between Telegraph journalist Luke Edwards and former Newcastle United co-owner Mehrdad Ghodoussi over reporting that Arsenal were initially told they could sign club captain Bruno Guimarães for as little as £50 million.

Edwards reported in The Telegraph that Arsenal’s interest in the Brazilian midfielder was sparked by information passed through intermediaries suggesting a cut-price deal was possible. “Arsenal became interested in signing Newcastle’s captain only when they were told, via intermediaries, he could be prised away from their Premier League rivals for a bargain price,” Edwards wrote. “That is not the case and the deal remains deadlocked.”

The source of that expectation, according to Edwards, was a conversation those intermediaries claim to have had with Amanda Staveley — Newcastle’s former co-owner and Ghodoussi’s wife — in which she reportedly indicated the club would listen to offers of that size if they failed to qualify for the Champions League. Staveley and Ghodoussi held a stake in Newcastle until the summer of 2024, having been central to the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund takeover completed in 2021.

Ghodoussi responded directly to Edwards on social media, calling the report “utter nonsense”. Edwards pushed back firmly. “Which part Mehrdad?” he replied. “The £50m fee? I agree. I’m only reporting what has been claimed from their side.”

Edwards subsequently posted that he had spoken with Staveley directly and that she had acknowledged the story was not, in his words, “utter nonsense”. “They deny they ever made a promise to Bruno that he could leave,” he wrote. “That denial is in the article but it does not change the fact that this is what Bruno’s reps have claimed took place.”

The backdrop to the saga is Newcastle’s difficult 2025-26 Premier League season, in which the club finished 12th — a sharp fall from the Champions League qualification they secured the previous year. Edwards reported that Guimarães’ representatives believed that failure would make the player available at a reduced fee, and that Arsenal are now reviewing their position having understood the actual asking price to be significantly higher.

Newcastle’s summer has already seen notable departures, with Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali both leaving for significant fees, raising further questions about the club’s ability to retain their most influential players heading into next season.