Summary West Ham United's summer transfer window has been disappointing, with the sale of Declan Rice and limited spending being major issues. Manchester City are circling around West Ham's midfielder Lucas Paqueta, with a deal likely to be agreed upon, as David Moyes is happy to see him go. Paqueta is an excellent player with impressive statistics, making him a valuable asset for Manchester City and potentially profitable for West Ham.
West Ham United look set to lose £150,000-a-week ace as his move away from the London Stadium is more "a matter of when rather than if", per transfers expert Graeme Bailey.
West Ham United news – What's the latest?
There's no escaping from the fact that it just hasn't been a good summer for the Hammers this year.
Things kicked off with the sale of their talismanic club captain Declan Rice, who joined cross-city rivals Arsenal in a deal worth £105m, and whilst that is an undeniably large sum of money, their inability to spend much of it has been a real issue.
The club finally made their first signing of the window last week when they spent £35m on Mexican international Edson Alvarez, a transfer they quickly followed up by signing Southampton captain James Ward-Prowse for a fee of around £30m.
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However, this positivity has been relatively short-lived as the deal to sign former Manchester United captain Harry Maguire has now fallen through, and worse yet, the East Londoners look set to lose probably the best midfielder at the club, Lucas Paqueta as Manchester City continue to circle above.
The Irons have made it clear to the treble-winners that they will not accept any offers lower than the player's £85m release clause that will be in place from next summer, having already rejected a £70m offer earlier this week, per the Daily Mail.
That said, there is an air of confidence from Pep Guardiola's side regarding this deal, and according to transfers expert Graeme Bailey it is more a matter of "when rather than if" a deal is agreed – especially with as David Moyes would be "happy to see him go."
He explained the situation on the Talking Transfers podcast, saying:
"The player is desperate to go. He's wanted to go all summer; once he knew Moyes was staying as manager, he wanted out. I think that relationship is, it's not all done and dusted, but for as much as Paqueta might want to leave, I think David Moyes is happy to see him go, so I think it suits both parties.
"It will get done, I think it's going to be about £85m it will get done as. He'll slot in straight away, he's got that Premier League experience as well; it's the perfect signing for City, it really is, Kovacic and Paqueta. We know that Gundogan is virtually irreplaceable, but I tell you what, it's not two bad signings to come in help; it really isn't.
"And City once again proving that they're one of the best performers in the transfer market with this deal. They made the move pretty quietly until, obviously, it emerged ten days ago.
"A matter of when rather than if, Lucas Paqueta will be a Manchester City player before the transfer window closes"
How good is Lucas Paqueta?
To put it bluntly, the £150,000-a-week ace is an excellent player, and whilst he didn't quite hit the heady heights that many thought he might last season, he was still one of West Ham's best performers and showed enough moments of sheer magic to convince the City Group that he could be a superstar under Guardiola.
According to Sofascore, the former Lyon man averaged a pretty impressive match rating of 6.95 across his 28 Premier League games last year, scoring four goals from an expected goal number of 4.4, providing three assists from an expected assist number of just 2.63 and maintaining a passing accuracy of 80%.
His underlying numbers are just as impressive and help to show a slightly busier and more physical side to him than people might expect.
According to FBref, which compares players in similar positions across Europe's top five leagues, the Brazilian sits in the top 1% for tackles, the top 2% for blocks, the top 5% for clearances, the top 6% for aerial duals won, the top 7% for progressive passes, and the top 16% for passes attempted, all per 90.
Hailed as a "joy to watch" by football talent scout Jacek Kulig, the 25-year-old truly is a special player to observe, something former teammate Gianluca Scamacca clearly agreed with as he described the dynamic midfielder as "brilliant."
Ultimately, while the Hammers would undoubtedly be better off keeping their man for a little while longer, if City do end up paying them more than £80m, they can at least walk away with a significant profit after watching Paqueta play for a year in East London.