Shearer warns Guimaraes to brace for frosty Newcastle return after £75m Arsenal move

Alan Shearer has warned Bruno Guimaraes to expect a cold reception from Newcastle supporters when Arsenal travel to St James’ Park on November 21, following the midfielder’s £75 million move to the Gunners earlier this summer.

Shearer, a Newcastle legend, drew a direct comparison with Alexander Isak’s return to Tyneside with Liverpool last weekend, which was met with open hostility after the striker was widely reported to have gone on strike to force through his own departure. Guimaraes, Shearer suggested, will be treated more leniently — but not warmly.

“I don’t think it’ll be as bad as Isak, but I don’t think it’ll be a good reception,” Shearer said. “Ultimately, Bruno wanted to leave, which is fine. Everyone has their opinion and wants to move clubs at times. But he wanted to leave and didn’t want to be there any longer. I get that and understand that, but sometimes the fans of your club don’t understand that.”

Guimaraes, who captained Newcastle and joined the club when they were fighting to avoid relegation, described the decision to leave as the “toughest of my life.” In a farewell statement, he wrote: “When I arrived, the club was in a challenging position and I am incredibly proud of what we achieved together. This move is very tough because Newcastle means so much to me, but I wanted to experience something new in my life.”

In a separate video posted on social media, the Brazilian added: “This farewell comes down to differences in ideas. Something that can happen in a relationship as beautiful, as strong and passionate as ours. Sometimes life leads us in a different direction.”

Newcastle sporting director Ross Wilson made clear the club had no desire to sell their captain. “We didn’t want to sell Bruno. It wasn’t in the plan to sell Bruno. None of us — or ownership — wanted to sell Bruno,” Wilson said. “He’s our captain, he was very, very important to us and the debate over his price — it’s a world-record fee for a player of his age. What we had to weigh up was, very respectfully from Bruno, with his behaviour towards us, very emotionally as well, effectively told us he wanted to leave and move on.”

The November fixture at St James’ Park will be the first time Guimaraes faces his former club since completing the move, setting up what promises to be a charged atmosphere on Tyneside.