Why selling Guimaraes simply wouldn't look good

[Getty Images] Last month, Arsenal held some conversations - quite exploratory - with Bruno Guimaraes' representatives about the potential financial conditions for a deal and a fee of £60m was mentioned, but there was no formal approach to Newcastle then. Newcastle's position is they do not want to sell their captain and they are not inviting offers for him. Bruno has been away at the World Cup but Brazil have been eliminated so maybe the timing there is key to all of this as well. Inside the past 12 months, Newcastle have sold for big profit but have also lost Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon, and Sandro Tanali - three big stars and huge names. Guimaraes is their captain. He is their most influential player now - we saw when he was injured last season just how much they missed him. Selling another star name simply wouldn't look good. And what message would it send to players already there and also to potential new signings? They are bringing in some exciting young talent, but you need experience as well. You do need a sprinkling of stars in your team and they have lost a few. Bruno is one of the few remaining established stars. He's given them great service but surely they cannot think about selling him. The counter-argument is that it is probably the best time to sell him financially. He's 28, with two years remaining on his contract, so his value will probably never be higher. I don't know if there's a scenario in which he would sign a new deal with Newcastle and he probably only has one more big move in his career. But for how it would look in terms of football and what it would mean for the club and the fans, and the further questions it would raise about the direction of Newcastle, I think it would be a bad move to sell him. Explore Newcastle content on BBC Sounds