Paqueta: Newcastle man told me to join Hammers!

Newcastle ace Bruno Guimaraes is Lucas Paqueta’s best friend, and the new Hammer says the Magpies star told him to join the Hammers!

The attacking midfielder became the Hammers’ club-record signing over the summer, strengthening David Moyes’ squad in the process.

He has yet to play regularly but has made his debut in the London derby against Spurs, and started the clash with Chelsea.

Paqueta was due to play against Guimaraes, who joined Newcastle from Lyon, this weekend before the round of fixtures was postponed by the Premier League.

And he has now revealed just how close he is with his Brazilian compatriot; he has even been asked to be the godfather of the child Guimaraes and his partner are expecting.

Speaking to The Times, he revealed that Bruno played a key role in convincing him to move to London from France.

He said: “Bruno and Vinicius Jr [the Real Madrid playmaker] are my two best friends in football. I’ve known Vini since we were ten, at Flamengo, and me and Bruno built this amazing friendship at Lyon and became really close. It seems like yesterday we were playing video games together and talking about what it would be like if we ever played against each other. And soon it will happen.

“Bruno told me the Premier League is a great competition and was very complimentary about West Ham. He told me it was a great club and difficult to play against. I just joked and said, ‘They’ll be even more difficult when I am there.’ ”

Paqueta will hope to be in action next week, provided no more games are postponed.