Bruno Guimarães was one of the new players to join Newcastle United in January.
The midfielder arrived at St James’ Park from Lyon a day before the window closed and the deal cost the Tyneside club around €50m. This took place four days after the Ligue 1 side issued an official statement denying any sort of agreement with the Magpies.
On February 2nd, we covered claims made by L’Equipe that stated the two clubs reached an agreement last Friday, but the operation was delayed due to the player’s representatives.
Lyon were successful in adding Romain Faivre and Tanguy Ndombélé to their squad in January and the latter returned to his old club on a loan deal from Tottenham Hotspur.
Jean-Michel Aulas, the French club’s president, spoke to reporters to discuss the club’s transfer business in the last window. He detailed why Lyon ended up letting Guimarães join Eddie Howe’s side.
“Vincent Ponsot and Bruno Cheyrou did a good job. In the transfer window we do not control everything. There is what we hope to do,” Aulas said, as quoted by Foot Mercato.
“When the first request came from Newcastle for Bruno Guimarães we refused. We wanted economic counterparts and we didn’t instigate it or request the transfer. The events forced us to think. Even if we weren’t a seller, we’re happy.
“After the coronavirus period, as an entrepreneur, it would not have been good not to listen to this proposal. We turned this weakness into an opportunity.
“It was sometimes difficult to bear on a human level because of the criticism, but I am satisfied with the work done. I say thank you to Vincent Ponsot and Bruno Cheyrou.”
