One player was set for an £80m move to a Premier League rival last summer
One of the more baleful sagas of last season was watching Lucas Paqueta struggle through the Premier League with the weight of a potential gambling ban on his shoulders, but following the FA’s announcement that he’s cleared of all charges the Brazilian can focus on recapturing his 2023/24 form, and the best place for him to do that may well be Newcastle United.
Paqueta was on the verge of on £80 million move to Manchester City after a barnstorming campaign that followed a debut season in which he was pivotal in West Ham United’s Conference League triumph, assisting Jarrod Bowen’s 90th-minute winner in the final and being named in UEFA’s team of the tournament. But after he was charged by the FA for betting misconduct, 2024/25 was a different story.
Paqueta’s output of four goals and an assist remained consistent with his two previous seasons at the London Stadium but the rest of his play fell off a cliff, as he looked exactly like a player who believed every game could be his last.
The warrior spirit in midfield was nowhere to be found as his tackling numbers evaporated, and Paqueta dropped from being one of the best players in the league for progressive passes and passes into the final third, to ‘only’ better than about 80% of players in his position.
And though he scored a tap-in during West Ham’s pre-season friendly with Everton, and showed some of that old flair while leading the line alongside the inexperienced Callum Marshall, Football Insider believe Graham Potter is intent on cashing in what remains of 27-year-old’s transfer value.
Fresh start at Newcastle United is perfect for Lucas Paqueta
Paqueta seems to have aged about a decade in the two years since the FA opened their investigation and looks like he could do with a fresh start as he tries to recreate his best form and force his way back into Carlo Ancelotti’s World Cup plans for Brazil.
After starting all four of the Selecao’s 2024 Copa America games, Paqueta began last season by continuing as one of Dorival Junior’s trusted lieutenants but his game-time shrank as his form waned before he was left out of the departing manager’s final Brazil squad completely.
Paqueta’s last match in green and gold was a four-minute cameo against Uruguay (in which he still managed to pick up a yellow card) and Carlo Ancelotti is yet to call upon a player who should be peaking at this point in his career - attacking midfielders Matheus Cunha, Gerson and Andrey Santos were all used in the most recent international break instead.
While Eddie Howe’s vaunted midfield trio of Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Joelinton were exceptional last season and pivotal in securing the Magpies’ return to the Champions League, the depth behind them remains thin especially following the departure of Sean Longstaff.
Lewis Miley doesn’t turn 20 until the very end of the season and Newcastle must continue to integrate his prodigious talent into the first team with care, while Joe Willock has played less than 1,500 minutes of Premier League football in the last two campaigns after an initially bright start to life on Tyneside.
Meanwhile Paqueta has enjoyed a fruitful relationship with Guimaraes for club and country, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him force his way into the starting side for some of Newcastle’s biggest matches next season if they did join forces once again. St. James’ Park was rumoured to be Paqueta’s destination when he left Lyon in 2022 and a picture appearing to show him wearing the famous black and white stripes during a kick-about with Guimaraes fanned those flames even further.
The pair have played over 3,000 minutes together and compliment each other well, sharing a tenacity while offering value at both ends of the pitch while Howe handled Tonali’s betting ban expertly so would surely be able to put an arm around Paqueta and nurse him back to his best.
Harvey Barnes is Hammers’ ready-made Mohammed Kudus replacement
Signed from Leicester for around £38m and capped by England back in 2020, Barnes’ career hasn’t ignited on Tyneside in the way he’d have hoped.
Sidelined by a foot injury for half of his debut campaign, Barnes racked up 33 Premier League appearances last season but only half of them were starts and the arrival of Anthony Elanga coupled with the continued development of Jacob Murphy means he’ll slide further down Howe’s pecking order in 2025/26.
But it doesn’t have to be like that. While used more sparingly than at Leicester, Barnes was still trusted by Howe and was only an unused substitute on one occasion in the Premier League last season. He managed five game-altering goal contributions, an impressive feat given his limited opportunities, and retains the directness and goal threat that made him such an asset at Leicester.
West Ham are yet to replace Mohammed Kudus so Barnes would be a perfect signing to slot into the attack and dovetail with Bowen and a hopefully revitalised Niclas Fullkrug, to help Potter improve on a fairly abysmal 2024/25 season.
Transfermarkt lists Barnes at the same value as when he was sold to Newcastle and with three years remaining on his contract and that slight regression at St. James’ Park, sending him plus around £5m to West Ham for Paqueta could be a rare move that benefits all parties.
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