Eddie Howe issues firm Bruno Guimaraes transfer stance amid Newcastle United midfielder's links to Real Madrid

Reports in Spain this week have claimed that Real view Guimaraes as their number one target to replace Casemiro, who has been the subject of a transfer approach by Manchester United.

But Newcastle are determined to keep Guimaraes at the club, as Howe reaffirmed in his pre-match press conference on Friday morning.

“Absolutely not [wanting to lose Guimaraes], we're trying to build a squad here that we feel can take the club to be successful over the next few years and we want to build that squad and enhance the group, not taking away our best players,” Howe said.

“It shows [how special Guimaraes is]. Regarding speculation, I've got no problem with it as such.

"I think it's a compliment to Bruno and how well he's done for us.

"He's been incredible I think and he's only going to get better from this point. He's a very valuable member of our team."

But Howe did go on to hint that keeping a player like Guimaraes at the club will be determined on the success Newcastle has over the coming years.

“It will in part come down to how well we perform and how far the team goes in terms of satisfying players that do very well for us over an extended period of time,” Howe added.

"Bruno has just started his journey with us and we desperately want him to grow with the team. We want to make the team stronger and him to show his quality even more.

"That's our aim and he's done so well in a short period of time, the supporters love him, we love him and I think he's in a good place.

The Newcastle head coach continued: “Every footballer has different aims and ambitions and I'm sure Bruno has got huge ambitions going forward in his career and others embrace that because he needs to have because he has the ability to achieve special things.

"We've got to try and give him an opportunity and a platform to fulfil those aims and dreams here, that's going to be important for us.”