The Chronicle (South Tyneside and Durham)
Bruno hails Toon team-mate after Wembley clash
BRUNO Guimaraes heaped praise on Anthony Gordon after the two Newcastle United team-mates faced each other at Wembley on Saturday night.
Gordon was the man of the match for England while Bruno also had an excellent game for Brazil with 72 touches and 55 passes before being taken off with 12 minutes to go.
Neither Gordon nor Bruno were on the field when Brazilian wonderkid Endrick pounced to win the friendly for the visitors.
Bruno now travels to Madrid for Brazil’s friendly against Spain tomorrow, while Gordon will be hoping for more minutes in an England shirt against Belgium at Wembley.
When asked about Gordon’s progress since joining from Everton in a £45m deal, Bruno said: “He has been amazing, he is so quick and when we get the ball to him we know he is going to do something special.
“No one at the club deserves to be in the England squad more than him. He has been unbelievable, always scoring and giving some assists. He is a lovely guy as well, I am very happy for him and hope he can get some minutes for England.
“For me to play against him will be massive for both of us and the club as well.”
Eddie Howe will be eager to get all of his international brigade back to Benton later this week as Newcastle look towards Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off against West Ham at St James’ Park.
Both Bruno and Gordon got through Saturday night’s friendly in the capital unscathed.
Meanwhile, Bruno has revealed that he plans to stay at Newcastle United for a ‘long time’ – but the Brazil international admitted he will eventually move on.
Bruno only signed a new five-year contract with Newcastle last October although the deal is understood to include a release clause.
Howe has previously spoken about how keeping hold of the club’s best players will in part come down to ‘how well we perform and where the team goes in terms of satisfying players that do very well for us.’
Having joined a side in relegation trouble, Bruno has since helped Newcastle pull clear of danger, reach a first cup final since 1999 and qualify for the Champions League for the first time in more than two decades.
Bruno has described this season as ‘disappointing’ – injury-ravaged Newcastle currently lie in 10th – but the understanding midfielder added that he ‘knew this would happen’ when he signed for the club and suggested ‘we made things happen too quickly.’
“I’ve always wanted to play here,” Bruno told UOL.
“I’ve followed the Premier League. Everything’s been going well at Newcastle since I arrived. I play among the best.
“I plan to play here for a long time, but I also have the goal to change sometime in the future. I’m happy to be here in the league.”
Bruno insisted he was ‘so grateful’ to Newcastle and the 26-year-old’s immediate focus is on helping his side secure European football with a strong finish to the campaign.
Newcastle, for their part, will trade this summer but the Magpies certainly do not want to lose their talisman.
NEWCASTLE United were rocked last week as Sven Botman discovered he could be out until December with a seasonshattering knee injury.
Having played through the pain barrier, Botman and the Newcastle backroom team decided enough was enough and the call to go under the knife was made behind the scenes.
United must now reshuffle their defence for the last 10 matches with Jamaal Lascelles and Fabian Schar expected to form a solid pairing in the next game against West Ham.
As we reported last week, Newcastle have checked out Ousmane Diomande of Sporting Lisbon throughout the season. The 20-year-old Ivory Coast star is a right-footed centreback who is rated at £68m in the Portuguese media.
However, Newcastle have company when it comes to interest in the youngster, with Arsenal and Manchester City both keen.
The other Sporting Lisbon star that United are credited with an interest in is Goncalo Inacio who can play on either the left or right hand side of the heart of defence.
At 22, Inacio is regarded as one of the leading lights in Portugal with five caps to his name for his country already.
Liverpool are believed to have tried to lure him to the Premier League with a cheeky opening offer of £26m last January but were told he could cost double that amount.
Sporting insiders say that Inacio’s tipping point could be around the £52m mark.
Either way, Newcastle will need a new centre-back going into the 2023/24 campaign.
■■ MARTIN Dubravka suffered a nightmare moment on international duty at the weekend.
The Newcastle shot-stopper was in action for Slovakia on Saturday night but suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Austria.
Worse still, Dubravka conceded a goal after just six seconds which many observers are claiming as the fastest ever at international level.
Christoph Baumgartner took the ball on from the kick off in the centre circle before smashing it beyond Dubravka from outside the box.
■■ GARANG Kuol was back in action for Australia over the weekend.
The Newcastle star has been frozen out at Volendam after a change of backroom staff in Holland. But he was handed a chance to impress for Australia Under-23s in a friendly against Egypt.
Kuol got on with business Australia and won a penalty before stepping up to score it in a 1-1 draw. The game went to penalties with Australia winning 2-1 in the shoot out to clinch a place in the WAFF men’s championship final.
Dubravka warming up on Saturday