‘Definitely’ - Two Newcastle United stars Eddie Howe wants new contracts for after Bruno Guimaraes

Eddie Howe says he hopes Newcastle United can reach a positive conclusion over Bruno Guimaraes’ contract situation.

It’s been widely reported that Guimaraes has verballed agreed a new deal at St James’ Park until 2028, which includes a release clause in excess of £100million, but the Magpies are yet to make a formal announcement.

The Brazilian scored in last Sunday’s 8-0 win at Sheffield United and appeared to declare he was staying during his celebration before kissing the club crest. Howe himself has remained tight-lipped on the situation but gave a little more detail when speaking to the media ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash at home to Burnley.

He said: “I think for any player the contract is important because you want stability. You want the player to enter training and games without thinking about their future, that’s any player not just Bruno, you want them just thinking about football.

“I’m taking everything off the pitch away from them. Personal issues they may have, contract issues, the football is the most important thing. If any player trains and plays to the best of their ability they are only going to receive good things off the back of that. So fingers crossed we can reach a conclusion."

Asked when a deal could be announced, Howe replied: "You might know more than me, I don’t know. I’m not involved in that. I’m focused on so many games and that’s taken care of by other people. Hopefully. I will hear before you, but maybe not.”

The Brazilian has starred in the Magpies’ midfield since arriving from Lyon in January 2022. But two other players who have also shone in that position are Sean Longstaff and Joelinton.

Their contracts expire in 2025 and Howe is keen to see their time on Tyneside extended.

“Definitely, we want to try and build up the squad and that doesn’t mean we take for granted keeping the players that we already have,” Howe said when asked about those two players separately.

“We have to give them the right environment to want to stay and hopefully, we have. Obviously, finances comes into that as well. They are two huge players for us.”