TalkSPORT claims Newcastle United are 'braced' for bid for Bruno Guimaraes in January

The most popular Newcastle United rumour of recent times has reared its ugly head yet again.

Just as we thought we'd get some time off from the Bruno Guimaraes exit rumours once his £100 million release clause expired, Manchester City's Rodri went and got an ACL injury which put him out of action for the remainder of the season.

Without Rodri, City have been very poor and the media have collectively decided that Bruno Guimaraes would be the answer to Pep Guardiola's problems.

Personally, I'd say that if your side buckles after losing one man to injury, you've got bigger problems, but it makes for a better story if one transfer can magically fix things.

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Manchester City could make their move for Bruno Guimaraes in January

It's no secret that Pep likes Bruno Guimaraes, both he and Bruno have spoken about it publicly, but it will take a hefty fee for Newcastle to part with the Brazilian who was made Newcastle's captain this season.

However, TalkSPORT are now saying that the Magpies are braced for a bid from Man City in January while also mentioning the club's need to sell in order to comply with PSR which has massively hampered Newcastle's ability to compete.

They don't mention a fee, but you'd have to imagine we're talking £100m+ for our prize asset, especially to a Premier League rival.

Would selling Bruno Guimaraes be such a bad thing?

The strange thing is, after writing many, many hands-off articles over the past year or so, we'd actually be open to selling Bruno now.

Don't get me wrong, we still adore the man, but we have Sandro Tonali who can slot into the void he leaves behind and the money we get from selling Bruno could allow us to bring in two or three quality players to actually strengthen the side.

If we have to lose one of our big stars, Bruno is the one that makes the most sense by virtue of having a ready-made replacement already on the books. Selling Tonali is also an option but he'd not bring in anywhere near as much money as Bruno right now.

That being said, we'd be absolutely amazed if Newcastle let Bruno go in January, especially to another Premier League side.