Arsenal and Man City battling for Premier League midfielder

Manchester City will look to move a step closer to retaining their Premier League crown when they face Brighton and Hove Albion on Thursday night. 

The Citizens reached a second successive FA Cup final by beating Chelsea in the semis on Saturday, and Pep Guardiola’s side will also look to retain that title by beating rivals Manchester United at Wembley next month.

In the league, City sit a point behind both Arsenal and Liverpool, but do boast a game-in-hand over the two clubs above them and therefore remain favourites to win the title.

In the meantime, it appears that City could be set to battle it out with Arsenal off the pitch.

As per The Telegraph, both City and the Gunners are interested in signing Newcastle United midfielder Bruno Guimaraes this summer.

Guimaraes has been in fine form this season

The report claims that the Brazilian midfielder has a release clause in his current Magpies contract – believed to be set at £100 million – although interested clubs could look to strike a deal at a lower price with Newcastle potentially pressured into selling at least one key player.

Guimaraes, 26, joined the Magpies from French side Lyon in 2022 and has since played an integral role for the North East giants.

He recently made his 100th appearance for the club across all competitions, and the Brazil international has scored 14 goals and provided the same number of assists during his time at St. James’ Park.

The report claims that Arsenal, who have also shown interest in Guimaraes’ teammate Alexander Isak, could be set to battle Man City once again in the transfer market, having beaten the Citizens to the signing of Declan Rice from West Ham United last summer.

The Brazilian’s current contract is set to run until the 2027/28 campaign.