Arsenal strike agreement for seventh transfer in Bruno Guimaraes boost | Football | Sport

Arsenal have struck a deal to sell Christian Norgaard to Everton for a fee in the region of £7million, with the Danish midfielder set to undergo a medical next week. While attention has not been on exits at the Emirates of late, with the Gunners looking to tie up moves for Brazilian duo Vinicius Jr and Bruno Guimaraes, they are still working to streamline the squad.

Norgaard’s departure, a year on from his arrival from Brentford for an initial £10m, also opens up room for Guimaraes, with several reports claiming that the Newcastle man is expected to join for £80m. Norgaard, 32, was rarely utilised by Mikel Arteta, even when injuries struck in the middle of the pitch.

Arsenal have already let go of Leandro Trossard, Jakub Kiwior and Karl Hein this summer, while Christos Tzolis and Illan Meslier have joined, in addition to Piero Hincapie’s loan being made permanent.

Guimaraes is anticipated to cost around £80m, representing quite the upgrade on Norgaard, who arrived from Brentford for merely £10m, plus add-ons. Myles Lewis-Skelly appears poised to take on a greater role in central midfield next season, which should ease the burden on both Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi following their struggles during the closing stages of the campaign.

Rice himself is still nursing fitness concerns, with Guimaraes likely to slot into midfield — potentially ahead of Rice — for their opening fixture against Coventry.

Despite that clash being just weeks away, Guimaraes has yet to fully commit to pre-season preparations, having represented Brazil at the World Cup.

He had been scheduled to travel to La Manga with the Newcastle squad on Friday, though that departure was delayed by 48 hours. Yet he may not even link up with his current team-mates at all should a transfer to north London be finalised this weekend.

Matthias Jaissle is set to oversee that training camp following Eddie Howe’s shock resignation as manager earlier this week. Guimaraes subsequently posted a heartfelt tribute to his former boss across social media.

Alongside the pursuit of Guimaraes, confidence is reportedly growing over a stunning move for Vinicius, with Real Madrid’s final contract proposal said to be on the table.