Lyon confirm signing of Arsenal transfer target Bruno Guimaraes from Athletico Paranaense

LYON have confirmed the signing of Arsenal target Bruno Guimaraes from Athletico Paranaense.

The Gunners were interested in landing the midfield enforcer but the Ligue 1 side have won the race for the Brazilian.

The Gunners had hoped to land the Brazilian but will now be forced to look elsewhere

It is believed the deal was worth around 25million.

Atletico Madrid were also interested in the 22-year-old but cooled their interest, instead choosing to prioritise a move for Edinson Cavani from Paris Saint-Germain.

Despite Guimaraes being a totally different player to Cavani, Atletico found themselves in a position to recruit just one of them, as splashing out on both would have led to Financial Fair Play sanctions.

Arsenal have creativity in their ranks, but the likes ofMesut OzilandPepe are not turning it in consistently.

And they were hoping having a Brazilian sporting director Edu could persuade Guimaraes to sign.

But Lyon have a Brazil legend of their own and their sporting director Juninho appeaqrs to have swung it for the French side.

Guimaraes has made 62 league appearances in the Brazilian top flight for Paranaense.

And he was also part of the team that won the Copa Sudamerica in 2018.

He is very highly-thought of in Brazil and has been touted as a future international for the Selecao, having been included in the league’s “Team of the Year” last season.