Lucas Paqueta has lifted the lid on the one special thing he’ll never forget from his time at West Ham United ahead of what’s almost certainly his last home game.
Much of the focus ahead of West Ham’s final home game of the 2024/25 season is on farewells.
Long-serving trio Aaron Cresswell, Lukasz Fabianski and Vladimir Coufal will be saying goodbye to West Ham fans when they walk out in front of the London Stadium crowd for the last time against Nottingham Forest.
Between them they have 23 years of service and around 700 appearances for the Hammers.
So there will be emotional scenes in east London as they – and striker Danny Ings – bid farewell to West Ham’s home fans.
Those four will not be the only players donning the claret and blue at home for the last time either. Far from it in fact.
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That means a number of others could also be saying goodbye on Sunday – notably Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta.
West Ham are banking on getting a sizeable fee for Kudus and offloading record £51m signing Paqueta – among others – to bolster Graham Potter’s summer rebuild budget.
It has long been reported that Paqueta will be leaving West Ham this summer – regardless of what happens with the spot-fixing case against him.
Having had the investigation, charges and ongoing hearing hanging over his head for the best part of two years, Paqueta finally buckled a couple of weeks ago.
Photo by Rob Newell - CameraSport via Getty Images
Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images
The Brazilian magnifico broke down in tears during West Ham’s 1-1 draw with Spurs.
After being booked, cameras showed Paqueta beside himself with emotion and he was subbed off by Potter soon after as he struggled to regain his composure.
The 27-year-old continues to insist he is innocent after the trial – which went on for three weeks in March only to be adjourned – resumed last week.
If found guilty then the FA are pushing for Paqueta to be banned for life. But if cleared of wrongdoing, West Ham will be looking to sell the Brazil international, who is said to be keen to return to his homeland after his traumatic experience.
It has not been all bad for Paqueta in east London, though, of course.
What Paqueta said about West Ham ahead of likely farewell
Now Paqueta has lifted the lid on the one thing he’ll never forget about West Ham ahead of his likely farewell.
A leading journalist revealed Brazil international Paqueta may have already played his last game for West Ham in that clash with Spurs.
The reporter made the statement ahead of the Hammers’ win at Man United, citing the club’s concerns over Paqueta’s mental health.
Sure enough Paqueta was an unused sub at Old Trafford.
After the game, Potter admitted Paqueta had endured a ‘huge week’ with his trial resuming and also stated he had come down with a cold.
Now all eyes turn to Sunday’s final home game of the season against Forest.
Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images
Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images
‘I’ll never forget’ Paqueta tells West Ham fans
The match will almost certainly be a farewell to the West Ham home crowd for Paqueta – and that might be limited to the lap of the pitch after the final whistle.
With a summer exit looking increasingly likely whatever happens, the Brazilian’s heartfelt admission speaks volumes about his connection with the club.
In what appears to be a very deliberately timed and poignant feature, West Ham have published a question and answer session between Hammers fans and Paqueta.
There were some light-hearted questions about his favourite food, whether he’d ever go on reality TV and who the best dancer is at West Ham.
But it was Paqueta’s answer to a question about his favourite Hammers memory which is enough to bring a tear to the eye and a lump to the throat – especially when you consider what he is going through mentally right now.
Paqueta’s answer is simple yet beautiful.
“Winning the (Europa) Conference League,” Paqueta said.
“I’ll never forget that night.”
Neither will we Lucas. Neither will we.
And nobody can ever take away that genius pass from Paqueta to Jarrod Bowen which made it all possible.
Paqueta has tried a thousand clever passes that haven’t worked in his time at West Ham.
So it feels like it was his destiny to be the man who played the pass to end 43 years of hurt.
Paqueta and West Ham will always have that night in Prague.