West Ham United: Lucas Paqueta stays with Vini Jr during injury recovery amid transfer talk
Lucas Paqueta stayed with Real Madrid star Vini Jr away from West Ham during recovery from a calf injury, according to Roshane Thomas.
Writing on The Athletic website (29 February), the journalist reports that the playmaker stayed in Madrid with the Real Madrid superstar to work with his personal fitness coach as he looked to recover for the Hammers.
And it worked a treat as he started during the 4-2 win over Brentford on Monday and turned in a top performance, adding fuel to the fire of links to Manchester City ahead of the summer transfer window.
“When Lucas Paqueta aggravated his calf injury against Bristol City in January, close friend and Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior knew the best person to aid his recovery,” he wrote.
“The duo played together at Brazilian side Flamengo and Vinicius Jr allowed Paqueta to stay at his house in Madrid so he could train alongside his fitness coach, Thiago Lobo. Lobo, who was at Santos, works closely with Vinicius Jr and helped the forward bulk up following his move to Madrid in 2018.”
West Ham know Lucas Paqueta is the most important player
The Hammers have really struggled for form since the start of the year, and it’s no coincidence that the team turned things around upon his return.
David Moyes has essentially built the team around his creativity and skills, so when he isn’t in the squad the struggles of the team are there for all to see as he is so unique.
The calf injury was expected to keep him out for two months and while it didn’t quite hit that mark, he missed a big chunk of games and the club clearly made the right decision to allow him to stay away from east London and focus on his recovery elsewhere.
It’s quite frustrating that the club don’t have the facilities or personnel that could have had him doing that in the club, as it could potentially see the issues the club have with injuries reduced.
Prevention is always better than cure so maybe getting better medical professionals through the door would be a good start, but at this point it’s just a good thing to have Paqueta back in the squad and fit to help us up the table.
In other West Ham news, Ray Parlour baffled live on talkSPORT after David Moyes snub.
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