Bruno Guimaraes: The Journey to Arsenal

The phone never rang for Bruno Guimaraes that Christmas in Curitiba. Not from the club he thought would change his life, anyway.

Six-and-a-half years ago, he was the heartbeat of Athletico Paranaense’s midfield, a 22-year-old running games and running on dreams. Atletico Madrid were supposed to be his next step. A £26 million deal was being pieced together, serious enough that Guimaraes swallowed back tears as he waved goodbye to the Furacão crowd after a 1-0 win over Santos.

The window opened. The days dragged. Atletico stalled.

Benfica moved. Arsenal appeared. Mario Celso Petraglia, Athletico’s president, went public: there was a new name at the table and it was a big one from London.

Edu, Arsenal’s technical director, had followed Guimaraes closely. He had seen the surge: four trophies, including the Copa do Brasil and Copa Sudamericana, and a midfielder who played as if every challenge was personal. Arsenal made contact. They liked him a lot. Just not enough, or not with enough money, to close the deal.

Lyon did. And they had a trump card: Juninho Pernambucano.

For a Brazilian midfielder, Juninho’s voice carries a different weight. He had conquered Brazil with Vasco da Gama, then written his legend in Lyon. To Guimaraes, he was an idol. When Juninho told him, “Sign for Lyon and you can become one of the best midfielders in world football,” it landed.

Arsenal couldn’t match the finances or the conviction. Lyon could. A £17.1m agreement was struck and Guimaraes, signing his long-term contract in France, did not hide his disappointment with the club that had led him on.

“Atletico? Nobody called me,” he said. The message was clear. He goes where he is wanted.

Atletico, who had once been in pole position, watched him go and watched him grow. They were not the last to regret it.

Two years on, another medical, another sliding-doors moment. This time Guimaraes was in Brazil with the national team when Newcastle United flew in their doctors. His stock had soared. He was no longer a prospect; he was a prize.

Again, Arsenal were lurking. Again, they stepped back.

After investing in Martin Odegaard and Albert Sambi Lokonga the previous summer, they were outgunned by Newcastle’s new wealth. The Magpies moved decisively. Arsenal hesitated. Guimaraes went to Tyneside.

The punishment came swiftly.

In May 2022, under the lights at St James’ Park, Guimaraes bossed Arsenal and scored in a 2-0 win that ripped the Champions League dream out of Mikel Arteta’s hands with one game to spare. The image of him celebrating, Newcastle rampant, Arsenal broken, felt like a personal reminder: you had your chance.

Since that night, he has relished the duel. No Premier League opponent has felt his presence more. Guimaraes has won 71 duels against Arsenal – more than against any other side in the division. He has annoyed them, harried them, hurt them. Now he will play for them.

The journey to this point started far from the Emirates, far from Europe, far even from Curitiba. It began on the courts of Rio de Janeiro, where a young Bruno fell in love with futsal and ran into rejection.

Fluminense said no. Botafogo said no. The dream did not bend; it hardened.

His father, Dick, a taxi driver in Rio, refused to let it die. Every weekend he would drive 269 miles from Rio to Osasco, on the outskirts of São Paulo, to watch his son play for Audax. Long, punishing journeys, fuelled by belief and, occasionally, tough love.

The rules were simple. Lose, and Bruno got a ham and cheese sandwich with juice. Win, and he could eat whatever he wanted. The message stuck: performance had consequences. Reward had to be earned.

Those memories are literally on his back now, inked into his skin. So is another symbol: the number 39.

For Guimaraes, No.39 is not a random squad number. It was the number of his father’s taxi in Rio, the same car that ferried him to those youth games, the same vehicle that carried the family’s hopes. He wore 39 at Athletico. He wore it at Lyon. He wore it at Newcastle. He will wear it at Arsenal.

The path has already been cleared. Louie Copley, the academy midfielder who recently suffered a serious knee injury in a friendly against Real Betis, had been wearing 39 in training and matches. On the club’s website, he is now listed as No.38. One number down, one Brazilian stepping in.

Guimaraes has always chosen clubs that made him feel central, not incidental. From Athletico to Lyon, from Lyon to Newcastle, he has followed the pull of genuine desire, shaped by those early snubs in Rio and the countless miles in his father’s cab. Twice, Arsenal failed that test. Twice, they blinked.

This time, Arteta did not.

The chase dragged. Negotiations stretched on and on, the kind of transfer saga that frays patience and floods timelines. But underneath the noise, there was a sense of inevitability. Arsenal had missed him once when Atletico hesitated. They had watched him slip away again when Newcastle pushed harder. A third failure would have been unforgivable.

So they paid. £75m for a midfielder who has spent years tormenting them, a player Edu first earmarked when he was still learning his trade in Brazil. Third time, finally, was different.

Bruno Guimaraes is an Arsenal player now. The kid who was told “no” in Rio, the young man left waiting by the phone in Curitiba, the midfielder who punished Arsenal for letting him go twice, will soon walk into the Emirates wearing No.39 – his father’s taxi number, his own story stitched into red and white.

The question now is not whether he was worth the wait. It’s how far he can drive this Arsenal side from the heart of their midfield, in a shirt that has always felt like it belonged to him.