Newcastle United have landed the first genuine body blow on one of the Premier League's elite by landing Bruno Guimarães.
In landing the £33.5million deal to bring the Brazil international to St James' Park, the Magpies can rightly celebrate signing one of the top 20 defensive midfielders in the world.
That's why both Juventus and Arsenal were tracking the 24-year-old for so long but Newcastle have quietly worked away in the background during the January window and have arguably caught the Gunners off guard!
The South American was linked with Arsenal at the start of the month but the expectation from many on the European football circuit was that Bruno would wait until the summer before finding a new club.
Newcastle made one or two discreet enquiries and were told that Lyon - if the price was right - could be prepared to sell now.
Bruno's agent Alexis Malavolta worked closely with two reputable figures in bringing the midfielder to Tyneside.
Malavolta said: "I would like to thank my partners Giuliano Bertolucci and Kia Joorabchian for their trust in this transaction with my lawyer Dr. Cristiano Caus."
Giuliano Bertolucci is also the agent of Diego Carlos with the door still effectively ajar for Newcastle on the centre-back for either a late swoop or summer move for the centre-back.
The involvement of super agent Joorabchian makes Bruno's move to Newcastle even more of a shock to Arsenal.
For a start, he has close links to Arsenal technical director Edu and has worked with the Gunners before on deals for David Luiz and Willian.
But Newcastle fans will now be the ones singing Bruno's name loudly when Arsenal visit St James' Park for the final game of the season in May.
Or at least they hope to be, given Newcastle's precarious position in the table at the moment.
For the new boy though taking on the challenge of a relegation battle did not concern him and it is believed he does not have a relegation release clause placed in his deal.
Eddie Howe now has a welcome midfield dilemma when it comes to who will partner Bruno in the engine room.
For now, he has thinking time before the big clash on February 8 against Everton at St James' Park but his starting line-up could contain up to five January signings.
Despite being in the thick of a relegation battle, these should be considered exciting times to be a Newcastle fan again.
