Lucas Paqueta is light at the end of the tunnel for West Ham United, ace on his way to stardom
West Ham fans were given another glimpse of Lucas Paqueta’s star potential with his impressive display against Liverpool.
The Brazilian netted a blistering strike in the 12th minute of the match at the London Stadium on Wednesday (26 April), his third goal in as many games.
He had previously found the net in the meetings with Gent and Bournemouth in the Europa Conference League and Premier League respectively.
Commenting on the latest strike, Sky Sports journalist Peter Smith wrote: “His run in from the left was classy, the one-two with Antonio created space and his finish was too fierce for Alisson.
“A third goal in three games to underline the quality of the Hammers’ Brazilian.”
It was indeed a fiery strike, with the effort causing the London Stadium to erupt, with the home support strongly believing that their superb run of form was about to continue.
It wasn’t to be as the Reds turned things around to leave East London with all three points, but the goal from Paqueta was another massively positive moment from the player in an otherwise disappointing campaign.
But it wasn’t just his efforts in the final third that must be praised, with the 25-year-old heavily involved all over the pitch in the 2-1 loss.
As per SofaScore, Paqueta’s 57 West Ham touches were bettered by only Declan Rice (72) and Vladimir Coufal (61), with the Brazilian finishing the match with an 82% passing accuracy by completing 27 of his 33 passes. Moreover, Paqueta made four tackles against the Reds, more than any other West Ham player.
The midfielder definitely hasn’t been poor in his debut campaign in England, but he hasn’t exactly blown away Hammers fans, many of which expected the Brazilian to immediately hit the ground running after a club-record £51million move from Lyon [Sky Sports].
It was indeed only last month that reports began to emerge that the midfielder could be headed for a quick exit from East London, with Paqueta predicted to join a Europa League club this summer by CBS journalist Jonathan Johnson.
With West Ham looking increasingly likely of securing their Premier League safety, Paqueta’s chances of shining can only grow, with the club certain to delve into the transfer market in the summer to provide him with much-needed support in various areas of the pitch.
Plenty of financial support will arrive if that league survival is clinched, with the Hammers also expecting a huge windfall for their European exploits this season, regardless of where they finish in the Europa Conference League.