West Ham chiefs appear to be taking a firm stance on Lucas Paquetá’s desire to swap East London for Aston Villa.
Last night, football insider Fabrizio Romano dropped a trademark “Here we go” update, claiming a deal had been agreed for Paquetá to join Villa for £47m. The arrangement was reportedly a loan with a £5m fee up front and a £42m obligation to buy in 12 months’ time.
But just an hour later, ExWHUEmployee posted a late-night update insisting the club would do all it could to keep hold of the Brazilian.
Graham Potter and Unai Emery are involved in a tug of war for Paqueta
West Ham reject transfer bid
The West Ham hierarchy are thought to want at least £60m, while manager Graham Potter has made it clear he wants Paquetá to stay. Moments later, Ex quoted a senior club insider as saying: “He will NOT be sold this window even though he wants to leave.”
Explosive stuff—and if true, serious questions must be asked about why Romano reported a done deal when no agreement had been reached. What’s certain is the speculation has caused major disruption on the eve of a crucial game.
One can only hope Ex is correct on this one. It’s far too late in the window for West Ham to be cashing in on Paquetá. The club and supporters have stood by the 28-year-old through some difficult times, and C&H has been told by one of his representatives that the midfielder would be content to remain in East London for at least another year.
His reaction after his goal was hardly that of someone pushing for a transfer!
Paqueta, in my opinion, is not the player we need at this juncture. He was good when we were playing in Europe, because he was a great asset then. More time on the ball on those Euro nights. He hasn’t scored enough goals for an attacking midfielder. He has actually cost us more goals than he scored!!Yes, he’s talented. At this juncture, he is more a liability. Had it not been for the court case, he would have been long gone.And if he is agitating for a move and we don’t get at least 60 million, he can train with the under 21s until he’s sold.
Very good post from Bob, which is bang on.
All I would say is, Paqueta will probably thrive at Villa or any other club that actually attack !
Any maverick / flair attacking player does not fit the negative tactics of Potterball.
Sometimes I think he must tell players the opposition half is mined, so best not to cross the halfway line !
Agree with Bob. We paid a fortune for a flair player to run midfield and it hasn’t worked out. Yes the occasional bit of class, but far more ineffectiveness and histrionics. Maybe he would flourish in a very strong side, but sadly that’s not us.Was gutted the Man City deal fell through. If he wants to leave and it’s a fair price then let him go.
The system we play under the incompetent Graham potter is so backward and defensive it’s no surprise any player with any ability or flare can not thrive. He seems to be a regular in the Brazilian side, but hey what do they know, they’ve never had any any flare players have they ?
I don’t believe we will sell him and I don’t believe he wants to go.
Selling another of our best players what is going on. Paqueta is just coming to terms with being cleared of cheating to make money out of betting on certain issues that was claimed to have happened deliberately so once he has got over the stress and things start to become normal again then we will see him at his best . He has the ability to change a game in a split second so hopefully he will stay and return the faith that the fans had in him I don’t think the board really has his back there only seem interested in how much money they can make by selling him
Sorry Gonzo, but why is it too late for us to be cashing in on Paqueta ? The club have stood by him probably because it had very little choice other than to do just that. The club were protecting their asset, so that it has the ability in the future to trade on him , as is happening now.
Let’s be honest, he’s been nowhere near the player we thought he was going to be. His ability to keep possession of a football or very frequently make a regulation simple pass without giving it to the opposition has been very poor, let alone his ability to create the ‘KILLER’ pass. Neither he or his team mates ever seem to know exactly where he’s going to play this defence splitting wonder pass and usually end up chasing a ball that nobody was ever prepared for. If this sounds uncomfortable for people to read it’s because we all know deep down it’s true. The man that once provided that cup winning pass (leaving Bowen still with plenty to do himself) has largely been atrocious for us. Little tricks and flicks here and there can make up a very good video reel interspersed with a few goals and penalties from time to time. But adversely a much, much larger video reel could be made of him passing a simple pass to the opposition, getting harassed into losing possession then feigning injury by rolling around on the floor either when we’re in advanced attack position and ripe for a blistering counter attack upon us or even worse, right outside our own box.
The bloke is a liability and we’d do well to get the money back we paid for him. We should take it now and either make a bid for a replacement in the time we have left or bank it and be thankful that we won’t be giving possession so cheaply to the opposition from his persistent sloppiness again. He’ll now be potentially doing that elsewhere (fingers crossed).
He really is the archetype modern premier league footballer, all hype and very little output except to rolling around on the floor. Contrast his contribution to that of Bowens, very much a throwback player of hussle and bustle that has created chance upon chance for himself and others, never stops running, leaves nothing out on that pitch. That’s the very minimum we should expect from a player demanding a wage and transfer fee at the size he did.
Flop, take the money and run.
Very good comments
Spot on!
The only liabilities are Potter and our board
Wish I’d wrote that. 100% in agreement.
Westham should play Aston Villa like they did to us with Duran
keep puting the price up when Aston Villa think they have a deal
Well who would have thought that Romano only cares about Romano and doesn’t give a damn about West Ham or Paqueta., what a shock. Despite his alleged ITK’s he is no more accurate than anyone else. I would like to hear what Paqueta has to say about this Aston Villa story.