West Ham United: Manchester City must pay £100m to sign Lucas Paqueta in fresh twist
Manchester City will need to pay West Ham United £100m to sign Lucas Paqueta this summer, according to SportBILD.
Writing on their website (10 April), the German news outlet reported that the Brazilian playmaker is a target for Pep Guardiola as he looks to bolster his squad for the 2024/25 season.
City tried to sign Paqueta last summer but stepped back from a deal after Paqueta was hit with a betting charge, which remains unresolved.
However the player has been cooperating fully with the investigation and City are now interested again, with reports last summer revealing that the 26-year-old has an £85m release clause in his contract that becomes valid during the upcoming transfer window.
But according to SportBILD, City will actually have to pay £100m to get him out of the London Stadium as his release clause is worth more than initially believed.
“A move to Man City in the summer is apparently becoming more and more likely,” they wrote.
“However, it won’t be cheap: you would probably have to transfer an alleged exit clause of 100 million pounds (equivalent to 116 million euros) to West Ham.”
West Ham should demand £100m for Lucas Paqueta
If West Ham have any option to be able to dictate the fee that it would cost to sell Paqueta, then they should be aiming for no less than £100m.
The Brazilian is sensational and has emerged as the glue for this team, with the poor run of form at the start of the year running alongside his absence from the team due to injury.
In today’s market where there are a host of players who cost £100m and upwards, Paqueta has every right to be in that conversation and the Hammers are renowned for being tough negotiators.
Teams found out last summer with the Declan Rice talks dragging on for weeks on end before he eventually joined Arsenal, and if there is a release clause present in his contract then they cannot accept anything less.
Paqueta may well be keen to move on and play at the highest level, but David Moyes (or whoever the manager is) and Tim Steidten must align on a strategy to get it sorted one way or another quickly.
In other West Ham news, £60m price tag emerges for in-demand striker that Hammers want to sign on one condition.
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