Flamengo seek immediate agreement with West Ham United to sign Lucas Paqueta
Flamengo want to strike an immediate agreement with West Ham United to sign Lucas Paqueta, according to Globo.
The Brazilian outlet reported on 17 July that talks have been ongoing for a month, with the Serie A side “positive about the move”.
Flamengo have a desire to complete “an immediate agreement” to sign with the only chance of a deal being “through a definitive purchase”.
The 26-year-old’s former club believes signing for them could help “mitigate” a possible punishment from the Premier League for his FA charges over an alleged betting breach.
Lucas Paqueta could leave West Ham United for Flamengo
The Hammers talisman could be in trouble due to betting offences which could see him banned from football for a prolonged period.
In similar cases, the likes of Ivan Toney and Sandro Tonali have missed six and twelve months of action respectively.
If Julen Lopetegui is going to be without the Brazilian for the majority of the campaign anyway, a quick sale may make sense – but only for a mammoth fee.
The issue with Paqueta being banned is that West Ham will need a replacement option but won’t receive any funds from losing him temporarily like they would from a sale.
Seeing the former Lyon star return to Brazil in a deal with a transfer fee involved could benefit all parties in the short term at least.
This could allow Tim Steidten to bring in a new attacking midfield option in the summer transfer window ahead of the season opener against Aston Villa.
It would be frustrating to lose Paqueta but, if he is set to be banned anyway, it is certainly not ruling out a sale at the right price.
In other West Ham news, Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s agent has reportedly made a desperate plea to David Sullivan amid links with a summer transfer
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