In our view, Manchester City should prioritise the signing of Newcastle United’s Bruno Guimaraes over West Ham United’s Lucas Paqueta.
A week ago, it was reported that Pep Guardiola is a “big fan” of the Magpies fan favourite, who Newcastle will sell only for £100 million, which is the value of his release clause.
However, in January, it was claimed that Lucas Paqueta looks guaranteed to sign for the treble-winners in the summer of 2024.
Of course, the Brazilian pair would make for incredible reinforcements in midfield ifCity decide to sign both ahead of next season.
Manchester City should snub Lucas Paqueta transfer and sign Bruno Guimaraes instead
But if given a choice, Manchester City should focus on signing Bruno Guimaraes instead of his former Lyon teammate Lucas Paqueta.
For starters, the Newcastle talisman, a central midfielder by trade is much closer as a profile to Ilkay Gundogan, a player who still needs replacing as opposed to the Hammers technician, who is much more of a number 10.
Not to suggest that Paqueta cannot operate in deeper areas of the pitch and provide control but Guimaraes can dictate play from the first phase to an extent that for much of his time at Tyneside, he has comfortably operated as a defensive midfielder.
With Bruno Guimaraes able to operate as a number six, as opposed to Lucas Paqueta, Manchester City would find plenty of value in his signing.
After all, the Sky Blues have been desperate for an understudy to Rodri and in Guimaraes, they have a player who has the engine, defensive awareness, technical quality and experience to deputise for the Spaniard.
Ahead of Manchester City’s 2-0 win against Newcastle, Pep Guardiola described the 26-year-old as an “exceptional holding midfielder” [via HaytersTV], which goes to show that he already rates him highly at the base of midfield.
Such versatility that Bruno Guimaraes brings in midfield over Lucas Paqueta would also be particularly useful in a summer where Bernardo Silva could have a possibility of leaving Manchester City.
The Portuguese international, who has a £50 million release clause after signing a new contract last summer is renowned for his versatility and after summer window after summer window where he has looked close to an exit, if he does decide to leave, Guimaraes could prove to be a brilliant replacement in terms of his tactical malleability.
Paqueta can play as an advanced midfielder, in central midfield and even as a makeshift winger but Guimaraes can play across every position in the middle of the park.
Perhaps for that reason alone above everything else, Bruno Guimaraes would be a more sensible transfer target for Manchester City over Lucas Paqueta, despite the latter having a superior season to the former and being a cracking player as well.