Losing Lucas Paqueta mid-season may be something many West Ham United fans can accept. Losing Lucas Paqueta to Tottenham Hotspur, well, that would be a different story.
Last summer, Mohammed Kudus became the first player in 14 years to swap the Hammers for Spurs.
After a decade-and-a-half of no business whatsoever between West Ham United and their neighbours to the north, could two controversial cross-city transfers occur in the space of a few short months?
According to Torcida Flamengo, Tottenham were advancing in talks with Lucas Paqueta last week.
Lucas Paqueta ‘wants to leave West Ham’ in the midst of a relegation battle – what’s your reaction?!
What was the point in this then? 🤔
While the Brazil international is not quite the fan favourite of old – that two-year spot-fixing probe, a series of poor performances and numerous transfer sagas have damaged his reputation in claret and blue – seeing Paqueta link up with Kudus in the white shirt of a hated rival would somehow make a miserable campaign even more painful.
Fortunately – if ‘fortunately’ is the right word to describe a situation in which West Ham’s number ten reportedly refused to play against QPR on Sunday – Paqueta has his heart set on a return to Brazil with Flamengo rather than a reunion with former teammate Kudus.
West Ham United’s Lucas Paqueta to snub Tottenham Hotspur for Flamengo
According to Diario AS journalist Eduardo Burgos, Tottenham threatened to blow Flamengo out the water when making a superior bid to their rivals from across the Atlantic.
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Flamengo have already seen a £30 million bid rejected by West Ham, per The Guardian, though they are willing to go up to £35 million.
Now, most clubs would usually be happy enough to accept the bigger bid. But on occasions such as this, West Ham would be loath to lose another key player to Spurs, no matter how much money is on offer from the reigning Europa League champions.
The words of Brazilian reporter Rodrigo Mattos will be music to the ears, then, of those who were dreading the prospect of Paqueta threading through balls into Kudus’ path once again.
“I think his desire is clear. He wants to join Flamengo,” Mattos tells UOL Esporte. “Not just because he doesn’t want to go to Tottenham, which is a big English club, but also because he sees the atmosphere surrounding him in England, ever since the betting investigations began.
“He suffered a lot of reputational damage within England specifically. So I think that factor also plays into his desire to leave.”
Flamengo have enough money to spend on Brazil ace
Speaking to Globo Esporte a few months ago, Paqueta admitted he held talks with Flamengo as recently as last summer. The Rio-born playmaker started his career in the red and black stripes, and clearly feels he has unfinished business.
Their coffers boosted by their Club World Cup participation, Mattos explains that Flamengo now have just shy of £70 million to spend on wages and transfer fees. Paqueta would become the club’s record signing by some distance, then, but with plenty of money to spare.
“Investing half of what you have [to spend] for the season on a national team player isn’t absurd at all, right? Especially if you consider that the rest of your squad is already assembled,” Mattos adds.
“There is room for this Paqueta signing. Whether it will close, whether there will be an agreement, we’ll see. But it makes sense; there’s logic within Flamengo’s financial movement for an investment of that scale.
“He’s not coming to Flamengo [specifically] to go to the World Cup. He’s coming to Flamengo to be happy. He’s coming to Flamengo to play where he wants to play.”
How much confidence does the win over QPR give you heading into Spurs? 👀
Oh, how sweet it would be to start to turn things around against them 😍
Paqueta surely won’t feature when West Ham face Tottenham
Ironically, West Ham will face Tottenham as the Premier League returns next weekend. Say what you want about Paqueta’s professionalism or a lack thereof, his likely absence from Saturday’s London derby removes an unwanted distraction from proceedings.
“That’s the scenario: playing at a competitive level, at a level where he’s competing for titles, competing for wins, being challenged to play more and better because the opponents in the Libertadores and the Brasileirao will demand that of him. And then playing the World Cup later,” explains Mattos.
“Of course, playing in the Premier League is a challenge, but it’s a challenge from a different perspective, because West Ham isn’t challenging [for titles]. They can’t even get out of 18th place!
“So it’s a different kind of challenge.
“Paqueta doesn’t need to come to Flamengo to make the World Cup. He’s coming to Flamengo – if he comes – because he wants to play for Flamengo.”