Manchester City to offer players in exchange for West Ham ace Lucas Paqueta
Manchester City could offer some players to West Ham as part of their attempts to sign Lucas Paqueta, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The Italian journalist provided an update on the Paqueta situation via Twitter (9 August), reporting that Manchester City had seen a £70million verbal bid turned down by the Hammers for the 25-year-old.
David Moyes’ side are keen to keep hold of the Brazil international but are aware that the midfielder has a desire to leave the London club for the Premier League champions.
And Romano has now suggested that “including players in the deal could be an option to be discussed soon”.
Sudden
This is certainly a story that has come out of nowhere and quickly developed with a verbal bid having already been turned down. Moyes will be keen to keep hold of his attacking midfielder after bringing him to the club just one year ago, although it could be tricky to hold off Pep Guardiola’s advances.
When City come knocking that is a difficult proposition for any player to turn down and Paqueta will have understandably now had his head turned by the interest.
West Ham are not likely to be in any rush to accept a fee for the player if they do not want to sell considering they have already raised some significant finances through player sales this summer, although bringing in some recruits from the Etihad could make a deal more tempting.
The likes of Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Kalvin Phillips could be two names the East London side would like to include in negotiations.
In other West Ham news, the club have agreed a deal to sign another midfielder amid Paqueta’s exit rumours.