Football journalist Luke Edwards has fired back after former Newcastle United owner Mehrdad Ghodoussi labelled his reporting as ‘utter nonsense’.
Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes has been heavily linked with a transfer to Premier League champions Arsenal but Edwards reported that the Gunners were having second thoughts because they were ‘initially led to believe’ the Brazilian would cost them a fee of £50 million.
“Arsenal became interested in signing Newcastle’s captain only when they were told, via intermediaries, he could be prised away from their Premier League rivals for a bargain price,” reported Edwards in The Telegraph. “That is not the case and the deal remains deadlocked.”
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'I'm only reporting what was claimed'
The ensuing social media spat was the result of Edwards’ report stating that Arsenal’s expectation was informed by a conversation those intermediaries “claim to have had with Amanda Staveley, Newcastle’s former co-owner, who said they would be willing to listen to offers of that size if they failed to qualify for the Champions League.”
Edwards acknowledged that Staveley’s status as a former co-owner and the lack of a release clause in Guimaraes’ Newcastle contract mean there’s no indication from the current ownership that a cut-price deal has ever been possible, but the suggestion sparked a row on social media.
Ghodoussi replied to Edwards’ post to call it “Utter nonsense” but Edwards has robustly defended his reporting.
“Which part Mehrdad?” he replied. “The £50m fee? I agree. I’m only reporting what has been claimed from their side.”
Staveley, who is married to Ghodoussi and shared a stake in Newcastle with him until the summer of 2024, was instrumental in the takeover of the club by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which was completed in 2021.
Newcastle’s weakened position in the transfer market is a direct outcome of their failure to qualify for European competition. A year after securing Champions League football and their first major silverware for generations, the Tyneside club finished 12th in the Premier League in 2025-26.
According to Edwards’ report, that failure was believed by Guimarães’ team to make the player available for a lowered fee. Arsenal, he says, are reviewing their position.
The Telegraph journalist posted on X again: “I don’t want to do this publicly but I will if I have to do so. I have spoken to Amanda this morning and she has agreed the story is not utter nonsense.
“They deny they ever made a promise to Bruno that he could leave. That denial is in the article but it does not change the fact that this is what Bruno’s reps have claimed took place.”
Newcastle have had a busy start to the transfer window. The Magpies have received significant fees for Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali but are facing the prospect of starting another season without players who were important to them in the previous one.
It also looks as if they’ve missed out on the signing of Switzerland midfielder Johan Manzambi, having also lost out on the signing of Victor Munoz from Osasuna, with Liverpool landing the 23-year-old winger in an 11th-hour swoop. The 20-year-old appeared to be destined for St James’ Park but is understood to be on the cusp of a move from Freiburg to Aston Villa instead.
