West Ham’s troubled number 10 is again featured in reports today as being ‘chased’ by Brazilian club Flamengo where Paqueta played in his formative years. Despite the [rubbishing of claims](https://www.claretandhugh.info/west-ham-exclusive-lifting-the-lid-on-paquetas-move-back-to-brazil/) that Flamengo wanted to loan Paquetá back in time for the Club World Cup championships in June, new stories have emerged claiming that West Ham have agreed a £29.5 million sale of their Brazilian.
There are a couple of issues: Any sale of Paquetá is pretty much out of the question until the FA panel have concluded the inquiry and made their findings public: Time is running out now with just a few weeks until the star of the window on 1-14th June in time for the championships into which Flamengo want to head with Lucas Paqueta on board: A fact seemingly ignored in the latest stories. Just for the avoidance of doubt we’ve raised the story with West Ham’s top spokesman and will report back.
West Ham in any case may have other ideas instead of a quick fix Flamengo fire sale. If a more lucrative deal is just around the corner with Manchester City then Paqueta may find himself wearing Sky Blue next season: _Remember just today the Hammers are reported to be in the hunt for City’s James McAtee_ and it may well suit the Hammers’ negotiating team to use Paquetá as a bargaining chip to ensure that McAtee heads to London Stadium.
Flamengo’s obvious urgency to push a deal over the line at a discounted price – in time for the Club World Cup – is likely to cut no ice with David Sullivan. £29.5 million is bargain basement for Paquetá once the FA ordeal is behind him and Sullivan will surely await the outcome every bit as anxiously as the player himself.