Bruno Guimaraes message to top six saying transfer spree is "just the beginning"

Bruno Guimaraes has insisted Newcastle can surprise the Premier League elite this season.

The Brazil international says a summer of £55million spending is "just the beginning" of the club's Saudi-funded rebuild and that they "dream" of qualifying for the Champions League again one day. Guimaraes has had a landmark summer in his life, after turning down Arsenal and moving to Tyneside in January in a £40m move and helping the club to survival and 12 wins in 18 games.

After starring in two Brazil victories, he proposed in Greece to fiancee Ana Lidia Martins, they have a baby boy on the way and Bruno will star in the World Cup in Qatar in November. He enjoyed a break including hosting ex-Lyons teammate and "brother" Lucas Paqueta for a kick about in his Jesmond back garden wearing a black and white shirt.

While £50m Paqueta won't be joining United at the moment, Guimaraes said: "Yes, we can surprise the others. We have quality and the coach (Eddie Howe) is so intelligent, so we can do it.

"We dream of the Champions League but it's step by step. We don't need to put pressure on ourselves. This is only the beginning. We know the 'big six' have good teams. The Premier League is the most difficult championship in the world so we need to be calm, and step by step we can arrive there.

"I'm excited for this season and the potential this club has. We know there is difficulty but we want to arrive as high as possible and I think we can do it. We need to improve more. We can dream higher."

Speaking in Austria at Newcastle's training camp, he says he has never felt so at home in his life, since starting out at his first Brazilian club Paranaense. He said: "It is such a special moment, the most special time in my personal and professional life.

"In the next year we will be married, it's so nice, it was my dream. We are waiting for our baby too. We are so happy. I got on one knee. It was a beautiful moment in Greece… such a beautiful place.

"I feel home now. My English is better and I feel good and I am very happy here. It is nice to feel this.

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"The last time I felt this way was when I played for my first club in Brazil. It is nice to feel at home and I really love the fans. It is a pleasure for me."

Guimaraes is pleased to have some new teammates after Newcastle spent £55m on Sven Botman, Nicky Pope and Matt Targett, with a big-money forward being searched for in the transfer market. He added: "We are stronger than last season of course. We are working to be ready for next season."

Guimaraes has only trained for five days at United's Austria training camp and summing up the hard work Eddie Howe has put the squad through, he revealed: "I am not fit yet. I am dead! Really dead. Tomorrow is recovery, which I need a lot! I feel very tired but we need this. We know the intensity."