Paqueta update
As we all know our midfielder Lucas Paqueta is now the subject of an FA investigation regarding so-called betting allegations.
The alleged details are now being published of how the alleged bets were placed.
It is claimed they were placed by members of his family and not directly by the player himself.
And as ExWHUEmployee points out the player remains innocent and there is no indication that he has deliberately influenced a game and that this has been very hard to prove in past cases
It does mean however that the transfer to Manchester City is almost certainly finished.
“The investigation is unlikely to have reached a conclusion by the end of the window and therefore it would be a big risk for Manchester City to spend all that money on a player whose future is unclear.
CandH believe in the line that Paqueta is innocent until proven guilty of any offences, and despite being dropped from the Brazil squad, he will hopefully be available for the Irons game tomorrow against Chelsea.
Ivan Toney played whole season before convicted and he directly betted on games so this has a long way to go given speed of FA etc. Man City have 115 charges re financial irregularities against them and that is going on for 4 years!
Paqueta may well be innocent until proven guilty, but it has put our transfer plans into turmoil. We no longer know where we stand. The Man C deal falling through means we can kiss goodbye for an extra £85M in the kitty. This may of already effected the chance of signing Elye Wahi. Could also effect the possible Kudus deal. And we don’t know what form of punishment he will get IF proven guilty. Probably anywhere between 6 months to a year suspension from playing any football. That possibly means being without Paqueta for a season without a replacement. At least if we had sold him we would have had around £85M for replacements.