Bruno Guimarães has been starring for Newcastle United since he joined them from Lyon in January 2022. The midfielder arrived in Europe for the first time when the Ligue 1 side took him from Athletico Paranaense in 2020.
Globo Esporte have published a detailed interview with Athletico Paranaense president Mario Celso Petraglia, and he revealed that his side had to “sacrifice” several players, including the Newcastle star, to improve the club’s economic conditions.
Petraglia has also talked about his aim to make the Brazilian side one of the best clubs for producing young talents, who can then be used to raise funds through their sales.
He made this claim when asked why Athletico Paranaense need to raise capital, and used Guimarães’ sale to Lyon as an example to explain his ambition.
“The club want to become the largest trainer of athletes on the planet, in other words, we want a large part of this capital to be allocated to training young talents. Bringing them from Africa, Australia, America, Europe, whatever, bringing them here to train. And another aspect of the need for capital is the maintenance of our athletes,” he said.
“When Guimarães came to me: ‘Hey, president, I’m going to earn €800,000 a month in the first year, you can’t take this opportunity away from me’. What am I going to say to him? Go to live, my son, be happy.
“A player’s life is short, and if you don’t make your nest egg, what will you be later? So, we also want capital to support these athletes.”
Petraglia’s decision to allow the Brazil international’s move to Europe has allowed the latter to make progress over the years. The 25-year-old is a key figure under Eddie Howe and his fine displays for the Premier League side have seen him become a fan favourite at St James’ Park.
Guimarães starred for Newcastle in their 4-1 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, and after the tie, he revealed that joining the Tyneside club was the “best decision” of his career.
