West Ham United: Lucas Paqueta to Manchester City transfer update disputed by player source
Lucas Paqueta having agreed personal terms with Manchester City ahead of a possible West Ham exit has been denied by a source close to him, according to Sean Whetstone.
The Six Foot Two editor reported via Twitter late on 8 April that a report earlier in the day from Foot Mercato had “all the hallmarks of an agent leaked story” amid suggestions that a long-term contract at the Etihad was in place ahead of new expected talks between the two clubs in the summer.
The Brazilian was on the verge of a City transfer at the end of the previous summer window before his betting investigation collapsed it, with the transfer situation reportedly needing to wait until that is formally ended.
Whetstone wrote: “Reports that Lucas Paqueta has agreed personal terms with Manchester City have been denied by someone close to the player. The Brazilian remains respectful to West Ham and is concentrated on the remainder of the season for the Hammers.
“His gambling investigation needs to be officially concluded and City need to formally lodge a bid with West Ham before personal terms can be agreed. The report has all the hallmarks of an agent leaked story.”
West Ham star not yet Etihad-bound from London Stadium
The fact that the view of Paqueta’s agents was part of the previous update does suggest they may have had a hand in it, although that doesn’t necessarily mean it isn’t true.
It would be no surprise if personal terms had more or less been worked out months ago when it appeared a deal between West Ham and City was about to be reached.
So if the 25-year-old is still broadly happy with that potential contract and the treble-winners are still interested in signing him then the arrangement could still be essentially in place even if nothing has been made official yet, since it is now routine in modern football for an agreement to be worked out with a player before transfer talks at club level start.
There is however a possibility that Pep Guardiola having signed Matheus Nunes from Wolves after the Paqueta move fell through has seen his interest in the Irons star reduce and the agent is doing their best to resurrect it.
But given the other 25-year-old Brazilian midfielder has only seen sparse action this season in the Premier League at City, something that Kalvin Phillips will be all too familiar with, it is no great leap to assume the Catalan manager still has his eye on the London Stadium for Paqueta.
In other West Ham news, the Irons are set to battle Tottenham to sign an in-demand hattrick hero.
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