Soccer
Mikel Arteta backs Bruno Guimaraes to give Arsenal new dimension after £75m move
Mikel Arteta has backed “warrior” Bruno Guimaraes to “ignite something different” in Premier League champions Arsenal.
Brazil midfielder Guimaraes was introduced to Gunners fans ahead of Sunday’s 3-2 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the Emirates Cup after completing his £75million move from Newcastle.
The 28-year-old, who has signed a four-year deal, bolsters a star-studded midfield which already boasts the likes of Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino, Martin Zubimendi and Eberechi Eze.
“You can see the immediate reaction,” Arteta told the club website after Guimaraes was given a warm reception by supporters.
“I think he describes himself as a warrior. I think he’s a warrior with a tremendous quality as well and intuition and leadership and charisma that is going to help us, that is going to really ignite something different in the team.
“I think he’s going to push everybody inside the team as well and that’s the type of player that we need.”
After finishing runners-up for three successive seasons, Arsenal ended their 22-year wait for the Premier League title last term, in addition to reaching the Champions League and Carabao Cup finals.
Guimaraes watched on against Dortmund as an Ethan Nwaneri strike and Viktor Gyokeres’ penalty were not enough to prevent defeat.
Samuele Inacio, Konstantinos Karetsas and Joane Gadou scored for the Bundesliga side at Emirates Stadium, before Arsenal won a pre-arranged penalty shootout 5-4.
“Well, (I’m) disappointed that we lost the game,” said Arteta, who gave captain Odegaard his first minutes of pre-season following the World Cup and will welcome back his full squad on Monday.
“I think there were some poor moments where we were not very recognisable, especially in set-pieces and defending actions and timings that we are normally very efficient (in).
“Some other very, very positive attacking combinations, big chances that some of them didn’t finish in anything because of the final pass because they were completely open.
“But, overall, disappointed because you want to win the games in any context and today, we haven’t managed to do that.”
