David Ornstein of The Athletic has confirmed West Ham United’s bid for Lucas Paqueta. The proposal is worth €40 million, with talks reportedly advancing between the Hammers and Lyon. The Brazilian midfielder has been on the wish list of several Premier League sides, including Arsenal, Newcastle United, and Manchester City.
Who is Lucas Paqueta?
Lucas Paqueta is an attacking midfielder who can also play a deeper role and hold the ball and progress forward.
Paqueta made his professional debut for Flamengo in 2016, after a couple of seasons’ impressive performances he moved to Milan where he impressed Fabio Borini. Following his impressive spell in Italy , the French side Olympique Lyon got hold of the midfielder in 2020 where he scored 21 goals in 90 appearances.
In the 21/22 season, the midfielder was elected the best foreign player in the French Championship, Ligue 1. The election was carried out by popular vote and was supported by more than 20,000 people.
Paquetá, 25 years old, competed with the defender of PSG Marquinhos, the marfileño midfielder of Lens Fofana and the Canadian leader of Lille Jonathan David.
West Ham ain’t stopping after Paqueta :
Additionally, some reports suggested that Manchester City were looking at Paqueta as a possible replacement for Bernardo Silva, who is Barcelona’s long-term target.
As things stand, West Ham United lead the chase for the Brazilian attacking midfielder. Surprisingly, David Moyes is also targeting Hans Vanaken from Club Brugge, who also seems close to signing for the Hammers.
Vanaken has predominantly lined up as an attacking midfielder throughout his career and could finally replace Jesse Lingard’s output from the backend of 2020/21.
Vlasic has now been loaned out to Torino, and Vanaken has seemingly been identified as someone capable of providing creativity and goals from a central position by West Ham.
David Moyes said , “I’ve lost count of how many players we’ve bid for. We’ve bid for a lot. If I told you who, you would burst out laughing. We’ve also made an improved bid for Vanaken. “
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