Newcastle Spend Years Building A Team And Then Sell Three Of Its Biggest Players In One Summer

Newcastle United have continued the dismantling of one of the most successful teams in their recent history by selling captain Bruno Guimarães to Arsenal for around £75million.

The Brazilian’s departure follows Anthony Gordon’s move to Barcelona and Sandro Tonali’s transfer to Tottenham, meaning three of Newcastle’s most prominent players have now left St James’ Park during the same summer.

It represents a significant change for a side which had spent the previous few years being carefully assembled under Eddie Howe.

Guimarães joined in January 2022 and became club captain, while Gordon and Tonali were subsequently added as Newcastle attempted to establish themselves near the top of the Premier League. All three became important members of the side which eventually ended the club’s long wait for domestic silverware by winning the League Cup in 2025.

By August 2026, all three had been sold.

Gordon joined Barcelona in May in a deal worth up to £69.3million, before Newcastle agreed to sell Tonali to Tottenham for an initial £92.5million at the beginning of July. Arsenal have now completed the £75million signing of Guimarães after Newcastle initially rejected an offer for their captain.

The departures form part of a wider reset at St James’ Park. Kieran Trippier had already left at the end of his contract along with several other senior players, while Howe departed as head coach on 30 July following a summer in which the composition of his squad had changed considerably.

Newcastle’s approach has not simply been to reduce the squad. The club entered the summer planning to reinvest the money raised from major sales into younger players as part of a broader rebuild, with the departures of Gordon and Tonali significantly increasing the funds available for that process.

There is therefore a plan behind the turnover.

It is simply a plan which has required Newcastle to sell several of the players who made the previous plan work.

Guimarães’ exit is perhaps the clearest symbol of the change. He had become one of the defining players of the Howe era, captaining Newcastle and playing a central role in the side that delivered the club’s first domestic trophy for decades.

Newcastle spent several years constructing that team.

This summer, they have started constructing the next one from the proceeds.