Newcastle told to pay Tottenham '£50m + £10m add-ons' for 'great' Bruno Guimaraes replacement
Newcastle United will have to pay £50million to sign Archie Gray from Tottenham as their replacement for Bruno Guimaraes.
That is the opinion of former senior Tottenham scout, Bryan King, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.
Arsenal are set to attempt to sign Guimaraes, who has reportedly told the Magpies that he is keen to join the Premier League champions.
Newcastle sent an offer for Gray earlier this month as they look to prepare for their captain's potential departure, but they are yet to make progress with Tottenham.
The 20-year-old is under contract until 2030 and is as seen as an important part of the future in North London.
However, the arrivals of Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, Jan Paul van Hecke and Marcos Senesi have placed big roadblocks between Gray and first team minutes.
Bryan King tips Archie Gray for Newcastle move
Newcastle are desperate to keep hold of Guimaraes and are yet to budge on their asking price.
Arsenal are reportedly yet to make official contact with the Magpies, but know they have the player's wish.
And after the situation that played out with Alexander Isak last season, Newcastle will be well aware of just how dangerous that can be.
Guimaraes would be a loss perhaps even bigger than the Swede, however, given just how integral the captain is to Eddie Howe's team.
Simply put, Newcastle a far worse team without the Brazilian, and would find it incredibly hard to replace him.
"If Guimaraes went from Newcastle, Archie Gray could be a bloody good replacement," King told Football Insider.
"£50m. That's what I mean. He's got great potential. I would imagine it'd be £50m with maybe a sell-on, or even another £10m if he completes a set of games and gets himself back into England reckoning and that sort of stuff."
Tottenham risk losing their brightest
Tottenham have already lost Luka Vuskovic to Brighton this summer, after the youngster decided that there was too much competition in front of him.
The Croatian is among the most exciting young defenders in Europe and could be a big loss in the future, although Tottenham were well compensated.
Lucas Bergvall is also known to be keen on an exit from North London this summer, with Nottingham Forest in the chase for him.
Gray would be another significant loss if he were to leave, but Tottenham have taken that risk with many of their youngsters and appear to have accepted it.