West Ham United: Lucas Paqueta availability a ‘topic of discussion’ amid alleged gambling offences
The availability of West Ham star Lucas Paqueta to play for Brazil is a topic of discussion, according to Globo.
The Brazilian newspaper reported on its website on Thursday (19 October) that the 26-year-old has been “vetoed” from the international team by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) since he was alleged by the FA to have breached rules on gambling.
It added that Brazil manager Fernando Diniz wants to call up the midfielder for the next set of internationals in November and that he is set to “deal with the matter” with CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues.
Harsh
It seems extremely harsh that Paqueta has been blocked from playing for Brazil after he has only been alleged to have breached the FA’s gambling rules at this point.
The player has been adamant that he hasn’t committed an offence and his employers at West Ham clearly believe him after he has featured heavily this season.
There is no wonder that Diniz is desperate to call the midfielder up for the next set of internationals as he is an incredibly important part of his team.
The Brazilian has also been in superb form for the Hammers so far during this campaign after really stepping up his game on the back of a decent first season at the London Stadium.
It will be a tense wait for the Irons to find out what does eventually come of the allegations aimed at Paqueta but, hopefully, he can put that to one side and continue performing well for us for us until then.
In other West Ham news, a club’s January stance on a player the Hammers wanted to sign has emerged.