Newcastle United sporting director Ross Wilson has admitted that Bruno Guimaraes' transfer to Arsenal was something they hadn't planned for before this summer's transfer window.

Ross Wilson said in an interview: "We don't need to pretend it wasn't the case – we didn't want to lose Bruno Guimaraes. It was very disappointing to eventually reach that point."

"We were satisfied with the final fee received (£75 million), but that wasn't in our plans. However, everything else that happened during the transfer window was planned."

As for why Newcastle finally relented and allowed Guimaraes to join Arsenal, Wilson suggested that part of achieving success in England is accepting that players come and go.

Ross Wilson said: "If you want to be a successful club in the Premier League, you have to make player transactions. If you don't, then you're unlikely to be a successful Premier League club. If you don't make deals, you keep the current squad, and then they'll just get older, decline in performance, and eventually leave on a free transfer."

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