Darren Bent has dubbed Bruno Guimaraes as ‘the real deal’ after scoring his first goal with Newcastle United after his transfer from Lyon, Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday (12/3, 12:59).
The Toon raided Ligue 1 in the winter market to improve Eddie Howe’s midfield options to avoid a potential relegation. They sat 18th in the Premier League after just two wins in 21 games before Guimaraes’ arrival. But now rank 14th, with a comfortable gap to the drop.
Howe has been slow to field Guimaraes in the Magpies’ engine room, despite paying £35m plus £6.5m in add-ons. The 24-year-old amassed just 39-minutes over his first five matches in black-and-white. And he only started at Southampton as Joelinton had a groin problem.
But Guimaraes justified his start at Southampton by netting Newcastle’s winning goal in sensational fashion. With his back to Fraser Forster’s net, the four-cap international sent the ball flying into the roof of the goal after 52-minutes with a ferocious backheel volley.
His strike would prove to be the winning effort, for just the Toon’s seventh top-flight win so far this season. It was also their sixth win in their last seven games to go nine unbeaten.
Darren Bent dubs Bruno Guimaraes ‘the real deal’ after first Newcastle goal
Guimaraes would feature for 67-minutes at Southampton to more than double his record for Newcastle so far. Cramp forced Howe to withdraw the Brazilian early at St Mary’s, yet he is in contention to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, but Joelinton is a doubt.
Bent feels Guimaraes’ goal on the south coast showed any doubters the type of talent that Newcastle signed in January. The strike left the former England striker in awe, even if he also took issue with the Saints’ attempt at defending as Dan Burn diverted the ball in.
“What a finish that is,” Bent said. “We’d heard a lot about him. I was excited to see him, what he was going to be like in the Premier League. But the finish is exquisite. Obviously, he’s not even seen where the goal is and look at the flick. Great little bit of movement.
“Unreal finish. It’s a positive they’ve eased him in, but he looks like he’s the real deal. That finish is, honestly, the movement, the marking is atrocious. But the finish is unbelievable.”
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