Man City and Arsenal have deadline to meet top transfer target's £100m release clause

Manchester City and Arsenal must act fast to secure the services of one of their top targets, with a specific deadline in place.

The Premier League title rivals have both been named as interested parties in Newcastle United midfielder Bruno Guimaraes.

The Brazil international signed for the Magpies in January 2022 for a fee of £40 million from Lyon and has grown into one of the top deep-lying midfielders in world football.

The 26-year-old has racked up 102 appearances for Newcastle and was a key cog in getting Eddie Howe's side into the Champions League.

He recently trained a contract until 2028 but Guimaraes has plenty of clubs keeping tabs on his situation.

And transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano has provided an interesting update on Guimaraes ahead of the summer transfer window.

According to the Italian journalist, Guimaraes has a £100 million release clause in his Newcastle contract.

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However, the twist is that the clause must be activated between the last week of May to the start of the final week in June.

If no club pays the clause, the North East outfit will retain "total control of price and potential negotiations" in the months of July and August.

And rather cleverly, the timing of the relause clause has been aligned with the cut-off point for the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules on June 30.

The aforementioned date is the final day of the financial year, so Newcastle would be exploiting a loophole in the system.

City have been heavily linked with Guimaraes and back in March, Pep Guardiola waxed lyrical about the midfielder.

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Speaking at a press conference before City's FA Cup quarter-final with Newcastle, Guardiola said: "He is an exceptional holding midfielder. He is aggressive, with the ball or without the ball.

"At set pieces, he’s aggressive and is a real, complete holding midfielder since being at Lyon and now at a club who want to grow up and up.

"I’m sure he’s part of the project for the next years. Definitely."