Bruno Guimaraes has been speaking to the Brazilian press about his first few weeks at Newcastle United after being called up by his country for their upcoming games against Chile and Bolivia.
Not only has he spoken fondly of the “passionate” Newcastle fans who chant his name, create songs about him and even create shirts with his face on them, he’s hinted at our goals for the 2022/23 season.
Providing we stay up, he believes we will strengthen well this summer and aim to qualify for either the Champions League or Europa League, feeling this exciting project will eventually lead to us competing to win the Premier League.
The former Lyon star has also revealed just how much he is loving life on Tyneside, saying it’s always been a ‘dream’ of his to play in England – even if it was a ‘risk’ to join Newcastle midway through a relegation battle:
Here’s what he told Globo Esporte about life at Newcastle and his hopes for the future:
“The Newcastle fans are in love with me.
“The fans are passionate about me, which is something I didn’t even have at Athletico [Paranaense, in Brazil], where I was an idol and won one of the main titles in the club’s history.
“The guys here have already made music, shirts with my photo. Shirt with several pictures of me. If I give a backward pass, it’s “Bruno! Bruno! Bruno!”.
“When I scored, the guys wanted to invade the field. It’s been too cool, I’m enjoying it too much here!
“It was all very fast [the move from Lyon to Newcastle].
“In four, five days we solved everything. I had little time.
“I never hid my desire to play in the Premier League. It has always been my dream and my goal.
“It was a risk but I also believe in the project [at Newcastle United].
“The fans are passionate about the team, it’s so different.
“Next season I believe we will strengthen very well to seek, who knows, a spot in the Champions League, in the Europa League.
“From now on, it’s a team to compete for to be champions of the Premier League.
“I believe a lot in the project and I hope that everything works out as it was passed on to me.
“Here I’ve done everything [in terms of role in the Newcastle team].
“In the first three games I played in different positions.
“In the first, we played with two in the middle. In the second, we played with two midfielders. Then I played first man. I can do all the functions, I’m happy, but if I have a preference, I’d rather be second wheel. It was the role I played at Athletico [Paranaense] and Lyon. But I can also play first.
“Doing more than one function is very important. I prefer to play as a second midfielder, but I play as shirt 10 and shirt 5. But the person who plays more than one role in modern football is always one step ahead.”
