Bruno Guimaraes was on an Air France flight to Rio de Janeiro in January when his phone kept buzzing. He had trouble answering, but he still didn’t want to be disturbed.
“I watched the series ‘Vikings’ on TV,” said the Brazilian midfielder, then of Lyon. “I was coming home to play for the national team. There was wi-fi on the plane and I received multiple calls from my agent.
“I was like, ‘I can’t pick up the phone!’ So he sent a message – Newcastle United are interested. Do you want to hear their offer? ”
Bruno paused in his favorite historical drama and said yes. He has been flying ever since.
Newcastle’s signing of Bruno Guimaraes in January began with his brilliant start in Tyneside
Turbulent start: Guimaraes gave an exclusive interview to Craig Hope from Sportsmail
Bending his upper torso and stretching his right leg behind him, Bruno tries to recreate his first goal for Newcastle. He does this from the comfort of the sofa on the training ground, but for everyone else it looks like everything else, but not comfortable.
Although he is only eight weeks old in his English lessons and a Portuguese translator is sitting with us, he is proud to use his new language skills to survive this moment, a volley back in the air in a 2-1 victory. Southampton.
“When I saw the ball, I thought, ‘That’s the only way I can touch it with my foot. So I’ll try. ” I couldn’t see the target. I only listened to the fans, “AARRGHH”. Then I understand … the goal!
His best ever?
‘I think so.’
For audacity, perhaps. But no, he agrees to buy a club record of £ 42 million, to be pure joy. This happened two weeks ago, when his header in the 95th minute in front of the Galloway End grabbed the 2-1 victory over Leicester. It was his second afternoon and the first time his pregnant girlfriend Anna had seen him score. You begin to wonder if these English lessons include screenwriting.
I tell him that in the 90th minute I made a remark to a colleague in the press box: “Bruno has to leave, he’s done.” There is a childish charm in the piercing giggle of the 24-year-old, because he knows that the last laughter belongs to him.
“I was just tired. It was really hot. I was saving my last vapors, my last gas. I was waiting for him. I thought, “I only need one ball to score or assist.” So when Joe Willock ran down the line, I gave my last energy to get to that ball.
Bruno was 30 yards behind Wilcock at the start of the break. To television viewers, he looked as if he had emerged from another channel when he arrived at the door and threw his tired body toward Willock’s center. He understands English when I say, “I thought you were going to be a hero or fall into a heap.”
‘Me too!’ He replied, beaming. In fact, the brilliance never leaves his eye. “When I scored, it was such a special moment. I will remember this for the rest of my life.
He returned to Portuguese – to the relief of the translator, who was worried about his future job prospects – adding: “I also joked with my friend because I had never scored when she was in the stadium. This was the first time – and now I have three! ‘
The third of them – his fourth goal in seven starts for Newcastle – came during the 3-0 victory over Norwich last weekend, a brazen joke over Tim Krul. His family, including his father, Dick and mother, Marcia, are so enthusiastic that even the journey to the deepest Norfolk is embraced.
It was there that Bruno wore a black and white “magic hat” during celebrations in front of Toon’s army. He heard their tribute: “Bruno’s magic, he wears a magic hat, he could have signed for Arsenal, but he said ‘no, damn it’. He wants to play for Eddie in the famous black and white and when we win the Premier League, we will sing this song all night.
Midfielder Guimaraes for £ 40 million already enjoys cult hero status among Toon supporters
Some have already created a banner for him in green and yellow, the colors of the Brazilian flag
He prefers not to sing it now, but admits that he has improved his English by saying it at home.
“I like it, I like it,” he says, but a hint of Jordy is already visible.
Bruno seems to like everything about his new life in Tyneside. There were dog walks in the city mousse – “It’s cold, but they’ll get used to it” – and on the first day he sought home comfort at the Rio Steakhouse in Jesmond. He suggested that this would be a Brazilian haunt.
“I couldn’t believe it – I took 10 pictures in two minutes,” he said, showing selfies. ‘It was amazing. I thought, “This is very special, so different.” I love this passion, this connection with the fans.
Eddie Howe called him an “amazing man” and his teammates were caught by his contagious personality. It helps, of course, that he can play – his statistics show that he is the best midfielder in the country in his current form.
He has confidence, but not arrogance, even if the tattoos on his left arm read “God created me to win” and “Everything possible strengthens me.” I do not have fear’.
He definitely didn’t get nervous during this, his first newspaper interview since arriving in England.
His trademark celebration of goals with hands behind ears is now common on Newcastle’s courts
When it comes to taking some pictures, he is bare-chested as he screams down the lens, mimicking the holiday with his hands behind his ears, which is now common at Newcastle playgrounds.
“I’ve never done it before.” Only now I don’t know why! he says.
What Bruno knows is that he would not be here if he did not believe in the project sold to him by Howe and the club’s owners, backed by Saudi Arabia.
At noon on Saturday, Newcastle entertained the four-time Liverpool, including his compatriots Alison, Fabinho and Roberto Firmino. So, does he want to ruin his friends’ chances for the title?
‘I hope!’ he declares.
Given the table of form from the last 14 Premier League games, showing only Liverpool and Manchester City ahead of Newcastle, such hopes are far from lost.
In his revelation, Bruno revealed that he joined Newcastle to win the Champions League. I told him he could take a shortcut and try to sign with a club like Liverpool. He definitely looks good enough.
“I believe I can achieve this in Newcastle,” he said. “Otherwise I wouldn’t be here.” We need to think big. I believe in myself. I believe in the manager. When you think about the run we’ve been on … I’m not afraid. I’m in a big club and I want to be a legend here. I want to create my story. I want to make history.
Bruno’s first memory of playing football in his Sao Cristovao district north of Rio de Janeiro is not good. He cried to be allowed to replace swimming with football, but in his first session at the age of six, he cried again.
“I got a ball in my face,” he says, and now at least he’s laughing. “I cried a lot. My mother came on the field and took me home! ‘
He was pushed into the sport only for medical reasons. At the age of one and then again at the age of three, he contracted pneumonia.
“From what my parents tell me, it was a very serious and difficult time for them. At the age of four, I was prescribed sports to improve my lung and heart function.
“At first I was introduced to swimming, but I didn’t like it. I said, “Mom, please, I don’t want to swim. I want to play football. “That’s how I was included in a football academy and that’s when my love began.
On his eighth birthday, Bruno was in the hospital again. This time, however, his parents were less sympathetic.
“I was on the beach with my friends. We started playing among the rocks. I fell and hit my head. I had to go to the hospital and put on four stitches. I got a really big statement from my father, “Why did you do this?” I said, “Dad, we were just playing, and I’m the birthday boy!”
Later, I ask Bruno if he has ever had a near-death experience because he seems like a person who wouldn’t just say no.
Although an only child, Guimaraes says he has found a “brother” in his compatriot Joelinton.
– Yes! he answers. “Given my father’s statement when I hit my head on those stones!”
Apart from the rebuke, his upbringing brings nothing but affection, and every year he makes donations to help the people of his hometown.
“I had a wonderful childhood. I would go fishing with my friends, fly kites, play street football. I would do it again. I really hope that my son or daughter has the same happiness.
He came at the age of 15 and after a series of renunciations from clubs in Rio, he joined the Audax Minnows Academy of Sao Paulo-based academy, where he earned £ 100 a month.
“Enough to pay my cell phone bill,” said Bruno, who spent the evenings talking to his parents.
They would drive 250 miles a night in Dick’s cab — Marcia worked at a motorcycle dealership — to watch their only child play Sunday morning. His father insisted that Bruno did not give up football to prefer futsal, his first love. Watch his goal against Norwich – controlling the ball with spikes – and Bruno attributes this technique to futsal. He even jumps to his feet to demonstrate.
Until the age of 19, these skills attracted the attention of Atletico Paranaense. And here came the turn of fate, when his club assigned a detachment number 39.
“My father’s taxi number!” he says.
This is the shirt he wore then to Lyon and now to Newcastle. Although the frequency with which its origins are mentioned has become a family joke.
The 24-year-old says he wants to be in Newcastle “for a long, long time” – and fans will hope so.
“Every time the commentator talks about my father’s taxi, we laugh. But it is also very important for us – we love this number.
His love for his parents, who moved to Newcastle, is also very evident.
‘They are…
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