Bruno Guimaraes remains an enigma. As Newcastle United notched their second of four goals in the win over Brighton on Thursday, the Brazilian slid on his knees towards the stands before screaming, inexplicably, what looked to be angry Portuguese profanities towards the Leazes East corner.
But for all the mental matchday antics, there is a softer, gentler side to Newcastle's magic No 39 that his Toon colleagues and family get to see each and every day. Even his aforementioned shirt number was chosen for the sentimental reason that it was the number that donned his father's taxi in their native Brazil.
Whether it be shedding tears after picking up an injury weeks before the Carabao Cup final, or selflessly telling Newcastle fans to lend their vote to Miguel Almiron over himself for a Player of the Month award, or his sheer joy at being able to walk out onto the St James' Park turf with his young son Mateo recently, it's clear to see Bruno is one of football's good guys.
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Guimaraes enjoyed a fine performance in the 4-1 win over Brighton and topped it off with a late strike, sending all four corners of St James' Park wild. The midfielder jumped on the advertising boards to take in the vast applause from the supporters before returning to the pitch and making the letter 'A' with his fingers in the directions of the Sky Sports cameras.
After the game, Bruno revealed the celebration was for Arthur Salters-Hoult, from Wallsend, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia early this year. Arthur is having to undergo the most intensive form of chemotherapy and the youngster may need a bone marrow transplant in the future.
“I think as a club we’ve been very good supporting people in difficult situations," Eddie Howe said of the celebration. "Trying to give our support and love when people are having difficult times.
"Bruno is an incredibly caring person. As much as he is a competitor and winner on the pitch, he's a gentleman off it. I think you saw the team photo afterwards. It's great to see."
Bruno ensured Arthur's Newcastle strip, which dons the phrase 'You Can Beat This Arthur' on the back, was placed front and centre in the team's now infamous celebratory dressing room picture on Thursday. Ricky Hoult, Arthur's father, responded to the gesture by tweeting: "Don’t think I can love my club any more and a special thank you to Bruno."
Bruno invited Arthur and his family to his Tyneside home this month. The Newcastle ownership have since invited the youngster to St James' Park for a visit to the director's box once he has made a fully recovery.
This isn't the first time Bruno has made the day of Newcastle supporters after his recent trip to a football training session for young people with Down syndrome. The former Lyon man made a surprise visit to the Newcastle United Foundation disability session at the NUCASTLE sports hall earlier this year.
Met with roaring cheers and chants, Bruno and his father settled straight into a game of football with teenagers and young adults before signing an array of autographs and posing for plenty of pictures with participants.
Bruno said: “This has been an amazing evening being able to spend time with this group. It is something so simple for me to do, to come and see everybody, but I hope that it can be something that they will remember all their lives. I always say about the love of the fans being incredible in Newcastle and this is now one of my special moments of meeting supporters and thanking people for their support.
“Seeing the beautiful work that is being done by the foundation is really important and I could see just how much it means to the Down syndrome team to be part of this charity and have the opportunity to play football and make friends. This city and the people really love football and our club, so it is amazing to be able to give something back to the community.”
Newcastle supporters have longed for a squad of players they can truly love. In Bruno, not only do they have a stellar footballer in their side, they have a great person off the pitch to match.
