A public dispute has erupted between football journalist Luke Edwards and former Newcastle United co-owner Mehrdad Ghodoussi over a report linking Newcastle captain Bruno Guimarães with a move to Premier League champions Arsenal.

Writing in The Telegraph, Edwards reported that Arsenal's interest in Guimarães was partly fuelled by claims from intermediaries that the Brazilian could be acquired for as little as £50 million — a figure Edwards says was far below the club's actual valuation of the player.

The £50 million claim

According to Edwards, those intermediaries told Arsenal they had spoken with Amanda Staveley — Newcastle's former co-owner and Ghodoussi's wife — who allegedly indicated the club would entertain offers of that size if they failed to qualify for European competition. Newcastle finished 12th in the Premier League in 2025-26, missing out on Europe entirely.

Staveley and Ghodoussi held a stake in Newcastle until the summer of 2024, having been central to the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund's takeover of the club in 2021. There is no release clause in Guimarães' contract, and Edwards was clear that the current ownership had given no signal a cut-price exit was on the table.