West Ham Record Signing Gets Massive Reality Check Following Forced Transfer

Lucas Paquetá’s departure from West Ham is clearly not going entirely to plan for the Hammers’ former record signing.

Paquetá left the club in January to return home to Flamengo in a move that was supposed to signal the end of a difficult chapter in his career. At the time, many pundits predicted the transfer would leave West Ham weakened following the loss of their creative talisman.

Except that’s not quite how things have played out.

West Ham Improve While Paquetá Faces Setback

While West Ham have enjoyed a noticeable improvement in form since Paquetá departed for £34 million, Brazil national team coach Carlo Ancelotti has now dropped the midfielder from the latest squad.

The decision comes as something of a blow for the player, particularly given that his return to Brazil was widely viewed as a move designed to revive his international prospects.

Ancelotti attempted to soften the blow with some diplomatic words. “We’re still monitoring the progress of all players and those not selected could still feature in the World Cup.”

Even so, the omission is likely to sting for Paquetá and he’ll have taken no comfort from his coaches gentle let-down.

After all, the chance to re-establish himself in the Brazil set-up was believed to be one of the major motivations behind his push to leave West Ham earlier this year.