While there is light at the end of the tunnel following that two-year spot fixing trial, speculation surrounding Lucas Paqueta’s immediate future at Premier League outfit West Ham United is now ramping up.
Should he be exonerated, as is expected, the Brazil international’s name is unlikely to be out of the headlines for long.
Because, though a club source tells Hammers News that a verdict may still be weeks away for Paqueta, it is understood that the West Ham playmaker will be free to kick-start his career heading into the 2025/26 campaign.
Whether that revival takes place at the London Stadium, though, remains to be seen.
Hammers News were also informed that Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City remain firm admirers of Lucas Paqueta. Rumours of a return to Brazil have also gone into overdrive in the last 72 hours or so.
Photo by Visionhaus/Getty ImagesLucas Paqueta open to West Ham United stay amid Manchester City interest
Football correspondent Graeme Bailey, speaking in July, suggested that West Ham may be willing to consider offers in the region of £40 million these days.
Man City agreed an £80 million fee for Lucas Paqueta in August 2023, only to see that arrangement kiboshed by an FA charge. Having said farewell to Kevin de Bruyne, and with both Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva past their peak, City could yet pick up where they left off a couple of summers’ back.
Yet Hammers News have now been told, by the aforementioned Bailey, that Paqueta has not ruled out staying at West Ham for the time being.
The former Lyon and AC Milan midfielder is understood to be highly appreciative of the club standing by him during two years of uncertainty. Manager Graham Potter has given his backing to Paqueta at every step of the road, and the 27-year-old has no plans to demand a transfer between now and the start of September as a result.
This does not mean the speculation can be put to bed. West Ham are still considering a sale. But any departure is likely to be on the Hammers’ terms.
“I don’t know anything,” Potter said after Paqueta featured in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat by Manchester United in the USA Premier League Summer Series. “I just know we have to support him. He has been through a long ordeal.
“He is a big personality in the group.”
Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty ImagesFlamengo coach Filipe Luis speaks as West Ham linked with Arsenal misfit Fabio Vieira
West Ham are yet to replace Mohammed Kudus following his £54.5 million switch to bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Finding a footballer with the talent, vision and guile of Paqueta would not be an easy task either.
Shakhtar Donetsk ace Georgiy Sudakov laughed off those West Ham rumours a few days ago.
Arsenal misfit Fabio Vieira has been linked now too, though the £29 million forgotten man did not exactly set English football alight down the road at the Emirates.
Both Graeme Bailey and Brazilian reporter Jorge Nicola feel that Lucas Paqueta is unlikely to join Flamengo this summer, meanwhile, largely due to the finances involved in a potential deal.
“He is not a player of ours but [one who] belongs to a Premier League club, one of the best clubs in Europe. So we need to respect [that],” Flamengo coach Filipe Luis said this week of a footballer who started his career in the red and black stripes.
“[But] Paqueta has a big story here, the love of the affection of the fans, and I have no doubt that Paqueta has a place in any team of the world.
“You always find a place for players of such quality.”