Arsenal have Bruno Guimaraes transfer welcome gift ready as agreement reached for move

Arsenal can hand Bruno Guimaraes his favourite shirt number once he has formally signed his five-year contract with the Gunners. The arrival of the Newcastle captain now seems a matter of when - not if - for the Premier League champions following a £75million breakthrough with their top-flight counterparts. Discussions, first via intermediaries and more recently through club-to-club talks, have rumbled on for weeks but finally, Arsenal are set to seal the signing of the 28-year-old midfielder, who will be a plug-and-play marquee addition for Mikel Arteta . His shirt number is unlikely to require much thought, either. That's because the '39' strip he currently wears on Tyneside is also free at the Emirates Stadium. FOLLOW OUR ARSENAL FB PAGE! Latest Gunners news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page It previously belonged to Harrison Dudziak but the youngster left the club in the summer following the expiry of his contract. The number has a special meaning for Guimaraes. It's the number of his father Dick Gomez's taxi when he used to work back in Brazil. Guimaraes has worn it for all of the clubs he has played for in his career to date - he wore the No.8 at the World Cup with Brazil - and the direction of travel is that the trend will continue when he arrives in north London. The Brazil international will need to conclude his media duties and farewell video with Newcastle before he is authorised to travel. He is currently in La Manga with the Magpies where he arrived on Monday following an extended break on the back of his involvement in the World Cup. Old quotes from an interview with The Players' Tribute back in 2023 have now resurfaced on why the No.39 shirt is so unique to him. Guimaraes said, at the time: “The number tells a story more beautiful than words can say. 39. I know people think it’s a weird number for a footballer. But for me 39 is special — no, it’s more than that. It's magical. “The number 39 gave me everything in life. It got me here to Newcastle. It fed me, clothed me, and paid for three-hour bus rides to pursue my dream. #039 was the dispatch number of my father’s taxi in Rio de Janeiro. For me 39 is special — no, it’s more than that. It's magical. The number 39 gave me everything in life.”