Dharmesh Sheth: West Ham United resume talks today to sign Lucas Paqueta after late-night negotiations
West Ham held late-night talks with Lyon over a deal for midfielder Lucas Paqueta on Thursday, according to Sky Sports journalist Dharmesh Sheth.
Writing via his personal Twitter account on Friday morning (26 August), Sheth adds that talks have “resumed” on Friday with the Ligue 1 club after two offers for the Brazil international, 24, were turned down.
It is understood that Lyon want £50.7million for Paqueta and if a fee is agreed, personal terms won’t be an issue for West Ham to finalise with the attack-minded ace.
Dead end?
It feels as though West Ham are getting nowhere with this.
Paqueta is a star player for Lyon, who are not a club who are shy of cash so it’s no surprise to see them demanding an arm and a leg for the Brazilian attacking midfielder.
Paqueta could add a lot of quality to David Moyes’ options at the London Stadium, especially with players like Said Benrahma and Manuel Lanzini consistently struggling.
It’s been a tough start to the season and we fear that time is running out to make considerable additions before the transfer window closes in less than a week’s time on 1 September.
We’ve seen some big signings made so far this summer and we do hope that given a bit more time, they can really light up the Premier League.
West Ham can still finish in a top-seven position and qualify for European football again next season but it’s not going to be easy given the start we’ve endured.
Paqueta will surely improve things.
It’s just that he’s going to cost a lot of money and not many of our big-money signings in the past have worked out very well at all.