West Ham United have ideal Declan Rice replacement under their nose in Lucas Paqueta
West Ham United continue to be dealt blows in the summer transfer window in their search for a Declan Rice replacement.
The club’s beloved captain and star midfielder has left for pastures new with his £105million switch to North London side Arsenal.
His exit leaves a huge hole at the London Stadium, both on and off the pitch, with Hammers boss David Moyes now keen to bring in someone to fill that hole as soon as possible.
A long list of names have been linked, with Southampton ace James Ward-Prowse seemingly top of the pile. However, as per The Guardian, (31 July) West Ham are ready to drop their £25million pursuit of the England international.
He would be an ideal replacement for Rice, but at this moment in time, Ward-Prowse will not be the player to fill that gap next season.
While a new face is undoubtedly needed, Moyes may have to start the campaign with one of his own, and fortunately he has a ready-made player in Lucas Paqueta to carry out that role.
The Brazilian is undoubtedly very effective going forward, but the star man also demonstrated his defensive abilities in his debut campaign in claret and blue.
In fact, only Rice (79) and his defensive midfield partner Tomas Soucek (77) made more tackles than Paqueta (71) at West Ham in the top flight last season, as per the official Premier League website.
The Brazilian also loves to get on the ball and move it around, with Paqueta finishing third in his club’s list for touches last season (1,603) and second in their list for passes (1,125).
Needless to say, the East London side would save a huge amount of money this summer if they opted to play Paqueta in defensive midfield alongside Soucek next time out.
In other West Ham news, a Hammers player has emerged as a “cheaper” option in a one European club’s pursuit of a new striker, according to Fabrizio Romano.