An eight-year wait that saw the two clubs wave at each other as they swapped divisions, before one watched from the third tier while the other was bought by the richest owners in world football, gave rise to a Tyne-Wear derby in which emotions were running particularly high, even before Newcastle lost seven of their last eight to ramp up the pressure on Eddie Howe, and the Sunderland interior decorators added a sprinkling of extra spice to proceedings.
Bruno Guimaraes rose above the frenzy, controlling the game from a pedestal; lowering himself when required to demonstrate he can fight in the trenches with the best of them.
As his roaring and pumping of fists having blocked a Sunderland clearance early in the second half illustrated, not only does he get it, he bloody loves it.
His ball down the line for Joelinton in the lead up to the opener was one of countless perfectly weighted passes, all seemingly played with a different square centimetre of one of his boots. There was one delightful ball over the top that Miguel Almiron volleyed just wide of the far post as the Brazilian proved to be the consistent creative thorn in Sunderland’s side.
Almiron was excellent too, winning an incredible nine of the ten tackles he attempted (more than the rest of his teammates combined), including the key steal from Pierre Ekwah to set up Alexsander Isak to double Newcastle’s lead. But his speed to break the lines was made all the more threatening by Guimaraes’ ability to deliver a pass onto a dinner plate from 50 yards away.
It’s that sort of quality on the ball, combined with his tenacity off it, that makes him one of the most sought after central midfielders in world football, and means Newcastle – despite their ludicrous riches and hopes for the brightest of futures – will have to fight tooth and nail to hang on to him.
Reports of his new contract suggest there’s a ‘secret Barcelona clause’, which would allow Guimaraes to leave on the cheap should the La Liga side come calling. Even if the cash-strapped Catalans fail to come up with the smaller sum, Paris Saint-Germain will pay the £100m release clause – the going rate for top central midfielders.
FFP rules are preventing Eddie Howe and Dan Ashworth from building a squad to match Guimaraes’ ambition. Despite a comfortable 3-0 win over their bitter rivals, this has been a humbling season after the highs of 2022/23.
Guimaraes would have been satisfied with improvement at a pace consistent with the previous season, but the possibility of missing at least one Champions League season will make it difficult for the many teams vying for his services to pass up the opportunity.
Additionally, it’s a huge sum of money—more accurately, a huge amount of delectable book value for the FFP boffins—that would provide Newcastle the space to acquire two or three players and possibly get them closer to their ultimate goal.
Selling your greatest player should never feel right, yet ask the supporters of Aston Villa right now what they think about the £100 million sale of Jack Grealish. Long-term benefit might result from short-term misery.
And let’s face it: even with a stellar 2022–23 campaign, Newcastle is still far from contending for the championship. Forget it—they haven’t taken home a trophy in 69 years.
After what turned out to be a very comfortable win over Sunderland, they’re one step closer to ending that drought, largely because of Bruno Guimaraes. Although he’s now effectively a Geordie, he needs a trophy or some other concrete evidence of progress before he decides to leave for a club where such things are assured.
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