West Ham United deal with Manchester City almost agreed as £80m Lucas Paqueta transfer ‘not off’ – Dharmesh Sheth
Lucas Paqueta’s West Ham exit is “not off” and could yet be “resurrected” if the issue surrounding him is cleared up quickly, according to Dharmesh Sheth.
The Sky Sports journalist reported on The Transfer Show on Monday (21 August) that the Brazilian’s move to Manchester City is “on hold, but it’s not off”, although the 25-year-old is “focused completely” on playing for West Ham currently.
According to the Sky Sports website on Monday an £80million deal for Paqueta has “almost been agreed” and could still go ahead if an FA and FIFA betting investigation is resolved fast.
The former Lyon midfielder has started both games for David Moyes so far this season and scored the third in a 3-1 win over Chelsea on Sunday from the penalty spot.
Will he, won’t he?
The chances of this deal been rushed through in the next 10 days are surely remote unless the authorities already have a good idea of their decision on the betting investigation.
This sort of process is rarely completed with massive urgency, so the possibility of Paqueta leaving for big money seems more likely to be a January window concern at the earliest.
The two situations may be different but Brentford striker Ivan Toney’s investigation went on for over a year [Daily Mail] before he was banned for eight months towards the end of last season [Sky Sports].
The matter is clearly of great significance to Moyes and the Hammers in general as Paqueta’s performance in the win over Chelsea demonstrated his importance to the squad as it currently is.
He is widely reported to have an £85m release clause from next summer, but until news of the current investigation emerged he appeared to be on the brink of a switch to the Etihad.
If he is cleared in the near future then there is every reason to assume that process would pick up from where it left off.
With the Irons’ move for Elye Wahi falling short because of the Paqueta developments [Jacob Steinberg, 19 August] the club surely hopes they aren’t suddenly left short in this window, but it seems a long shot for anything to be resolved that fast.
In other West Ham news, another key man at the London Stadium is “desperate” to leave before the deadline.