Eddie Howe has reiterated that Newcastle United 'desperately' want Bruno Guimaraes to grow with the club in the years to come as the Magpies' head coach looks to make his side 'stronger'.
Bruno has been linked with a move to Real Madrid, but Newcastle certainly have no plans to cash in on their talisman. In fact, Howe sees the speculation as a 'compliment' and a reflection of just how well Bruno has played since joining the club from Lyon in January.
The challenge moving forward, of course, is for Newcastle to keep progressing so that Bruno and others can realise their grand ambitions at St James' Park rather than having to look elsewhere. Bruno, after all, vowed that Newcastle were 'going to be a big power in world football' at his unveiling earlier this year.
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Newcastle, who finished in 11th place last season, still have a lot of work to do to get to that point, of course, but the club are at least able to sell a long-term vision to signings now. Indeed, Bruno previously revealed that the owners' 'main objective' in the future was to qualify for the Champions League and win the trophy itself one day.
It is a marked contrast to the ambition shown in the Ashley era where a move to Newcastle was effectively billed as a stepping stone to Yohan Cabaye, among others, while stars such as Ayoze Perez felt they had to leave the club because the Magpies had no plans to move to the next level. Newcastle are moving in a very different direction now, but Howe is the first to recognise that continuing to grow is going to be so important when it comes to keeping hold of his prized assets.
"It 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 over an extended period of time," he told reporters. "Bruno's just started his journey with us. We desperately want him to grow with the team.
"We want to make the team stronger and to show his qualities even more. That is our aim, but he's done so well in a short period of time. The supporters love him, we love him and he's in a good place."
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