Unhappy Paqueta wants to go home

After three and a half years, Lucas Paqueta is close to leaving West Ham. The Brazilian midfielder is unhappy at the London club and is trying to force through a transfer to his boyhood club Flamengo, from which he came to Europe seven years ago when he signed for Milan. For West Ham this is a fairly difficult and practically unsolvable situation. The Brazilian has a contract until June 2027 with an option to extend for another year, and West Ham do not have to sell him for strictly financial reasons. Especially since they are in the middle of a relegation battle in the Premier League and losing their most creative player would be a huge blow to that mission. However, keeping an unhappy Paqueta in the squad until the end of the season is not a real solution either. It would be dangerous for West Ham to rely fully on a player who is not mentally fully committed.

Let us recall that Paqueta arrived at West Ham from Lyon for almost 43,000,000 euros and in the meantime established himself as one of the Hammers’ best players. His assist even brought them the Conference League trophy in 2023, and he also scored five goals that season on the road to the European title. That summer he was on the verge of a 90,000,000 move to Manchester City, but everything collapsed when he was suspected of illegal betting. From then on his form declined, and he finished last season without an assist in 37 matches in all competitions. Last September he improved, scoring four goals with one assist in 18 Premier League matches, but he no longer wants to stay at West Ham—partly because of his international future and the upcoming World Cup.

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Paqueta has already given Flamengo the green light to start negotiations with West Ham, but the question is whether even the wealthy Brazilian club can afford such a transfer. Flamengo are ready to offer around 40,000,000, but with the fee paid in installments over the coming years. That is where Tottenham have the advantage: they are ready to immediately pay around 30,000,000 euros to their city rivals, from whom they also signed Mohamed Kudus. Possibly even more if Paqueta is willing to negotiate. Spurs have huge problems in midfield, as Rodrigo Bentancur is expected to miss most of the remainder of the season due to his latest injury. Lucas Bergvall is also sidelined, while Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison are long-term absentees for the same reason. Coach Thomas Frank is insisting on reinforcements and, in addition to Paqueta, is also seeking Conor Gallagher, who is getting less and less playing time at Atletico Madrid. Interestingly, both players are also on Aston Villa’s wish list, as they too are looking for reinforcements in the heart of midfield.