)
Brazilian international midfielder Bruno Guimarães was unveiled to Arsenal fans ahead of Sunday's 3-2 loss to Borussia Dortmund in the Emirates Cup, following the finalization of his £75 million transfer from Newcastle, DPA reported. The 28-year-old, who signed a four-year deal, bolsters a midfield already featuring prominent names like Declan Rice, Martin Ødegaard, Mikel Merino, Martín Zubimendi, and Eberechi Eze.
"You can see the immediate reaction," Arteta told the club's website after Guimarães received a warm welcome from the fans. "I think he describes himself as a warrior. I believe he is a warrior with exceptional qualities, as well as intuition, leadership, and charisma that will help us and truly inject something different into the team. I think he will motivate everyone in the squad, and that's exactly the type of player we need," the Spanish coach stated.
After finishing second for three consecutive seasons, Arsenal ended their 22-year wait for a Premier League title last season, also reaching the Champions League and Carabao Cup finals.
Guimarães watched the match against Dortmund, where Ethan Nwaneri's goal and Viktor Gyökeres' penalty weren't enough to prevent defeat. Samuel Inacio, Konstantinos Karetsas, and Joan Gadu scored for the Bundesliga side in London. However, Arsenal won the pre-arranged penalty shootout 5-4.
"Well, I'm disappointed that we lost the game," said Arteta, who gave captain Ødegaard his first pre-season minutes since the World Cup and will welcome back his full squad on Monday. "I think there were some weak moments where we didn't perform in our usual way, especially from set-pieces, in defensive actions, and in synchronization, where we are usually very effective. There were also some very, very positive attacking combinations, big chances, some of which came to nothing due to the final pass, even though the players were completely free. But overall, I'm disappointed because you want to win games in every context, and today we couldn't do that," Mikel Arteta concluded.
,fit(112:112)&format=webp)
,fit(112:112)&format=webp)
,fit(112:112)&format=webp)
,fit(112:112)&format=webp)
&format=webp)
&format=webp)