Several of the midfielder targets that were on West Ham’s watchlist have, I suspect, been hastily crossed out following the Lucas Paquetá verdict publication. The prospect of then Brazilian magnifico fit, firing and staying for another season at London Stadium means that an immediate replacement is not necessary.
Hence where the reported £40 million price tag for Shakhtar Donetsk’s star Georgiy Sudakov is revealed, you can almost sense the Hammers’ loss of interest now that their own £50 million midfielder is back in their plans.
Paquetá’s release from the threat of a lifetime ban is huge news both for him and for the club who no longer need to bring in a Harvey Elliot – or indeed Sudakov.
£40 million for Sudakov is of course a huge amount, being demanded from a club who don’t want to lose him in any case. As reported in today’s Sun, the Hammers _‘were prepared to bid £30 million” –_most likely right up to that moment when the Paqueta verdict dropped. With Their number 10 now revitalised and George Earthy waiting in the wings to step back on the pitch when fit again, the Irons can focus on a more reasonable prospect such as the €20 million [Raphael Onyedika](https://www.claretandhugh.info/onyedika-to-west-ham-irons-summer-recruitment-benchmark/) who, along with a goal-keeping purchase, could well see their summer ‘acquisition’ business concluded.
Moving players on – be they loan deals for Maxi Cornet or sales of Rodriguez plus another of the failed midfield contingent can then occup0y the recruitment team ahead of the end of the window. Two more players – depending on their identity of course – and I’d have to say that Potter’s mini-rebuild would be successful. The cynics would agains suggest free midfielder Josh Brownhill will be the recruit instead of Onyedika – I’d rather take the optimistic view and hope that Potter will at least get two of his ‘pics’ this summer.