Eddie Howe speaks out on Manchester United ‘offer’ for Newcastle star Bruno Guimaraes

Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has shut down reports suggesting Manchester United are in advanced talks to sign his captain Bruno Guimarães.

Reports this week have claimed United are eager to sign the Brazil international to replace Casemiro who has personally recommended his countryman as his long-term replacement at Old Trafford.

Casemiro will leave Old Trafford when his contract expires at the end of the season.

The report from Reuters claimed a deal worth €80million (£69m) has been discussed with Newcastle with Real Madrid also considering a move for the 28-year-old.

The report followed a woeful night for Newcastle as they crashed out of the Champions League after a second-half capitulation against Barcelona.

Guimarães has been a key player on Tyneside side his arrival from Lyon in 2022 with Newcastle winning just two of their 16 matches without him in the team over the last four years.

The midfielder has been sidelined with a hamstring injury since February and hopes to return to action after the international break in April.

Newcastle are gearing up for one of their biggest games of the season in the Tyne-Wear derby against Sunderland on Sunday.

Quizzed on reports over Guimarães’ future, Howe said: ‘I don’t even know how to respond to that. It is a waste of my energy.’

‘Bruno is our captain and he is fully committed at the moment. 

‘He is injured at the moment; his only focus is coming back to fitness.’

Howe went onto label the speculation is ‘totally disrespectful’, reiterating there is nothing to the ‘nonsense’ story.

‘Is it a problem for us? I don’t necessarily think it is a problem for us, but it is unwanted news, I suppose, is the best way to put it,’ Howe said.

‘You don’t want the players distracted, but I don’t know how much they will absorb that.

‘For me, it is not the time to think about it. In the summer, you can understand those stories a little bit more because the transfer window is open. To say our captain is in discussions with another club is totally disrespectful to Bruno more than anything else, he is totally committed here.

‘I’m not going to be impolite because I don’t think it’s the forum to do that in. For me, it’s a nonsense story.’