A Lucas Paqueta replacement will have to wait at West Ham United, then.
Not that Nuno Espirito Santo was expecting one, of course. As Lucas Paqueta forced through a return to Flamengo – returning home to Rio in the process – Nuno served up a dose of the harshest reality to any West Ham United supporters hoping to see a like-for-like successor walk through the door before Monday’s 7pm deadline.
“For me, Lucas is a special player and a special person. We cannot replace Lucas because he’s unique,” Nuno said in the build up to Saturday’s 3-2 defeat by Chelsea. “He’s a number ten that has special qualities. You cannot find many players like Lucas in the transfer window.
“You cannot find them.”
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Suggestions that West Ham saw Ilan Kebbal as a Paqueta replacement, then, can probably be played down somewhat.
That does not mean the Paris FC playmaker is not a genuine transfer target, though. One the Hammers may revisit in the summer. Alan Nixon claimed as much a few weeks back, Kebbal’s alleged £12 million price-tag a bargain based on his effervescent displays across the Channel and those audacious Lionel Messi comparisons.
Just because Kebbal is not Paqueta 2.0 – the so-called ‘new Riyad Mahrez’ is arguably more Jarrod Bowen in style anyway – that doesn’t mean he can’t help rebuild West Ham’s forward line in the post-Brazilian era.
West Ham United-linked Ilan Kebbal has been likened to Lionel Messi
Ilan Kebbal of Paris FC
Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP via Getty Images
Cutting in from the right-hand side and curling shots into the far corner, Kebbal’s Paris FC party-piece is certainly something he shares with the current West Ham skipper.
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And the legacy of Leo Messi – or one minor part of his legacy – is that most jinking, diminutive left-footed wingers are bound to be referred to as their club’s very own ‘Messi’ at one point or another. Tongue in cheek or otherwise.
Kebbal, if you like, is perhaps ‘the Messi of Marseille’. An Algeria international who was born in the Southern France city, but who has made his name in the nouveau-riche headquarters of Ligue 1 newcomers Paris FC.
“That night, he was better than Messi,” a source tells Ouest France, reminiscing on a 2021 encounter between the Kebbal’s Stade de Reims outfit and a Paris Saint-Germain side boasting the Barcelona legend for the very first time.
“In the 20 minutes they were together on the pitch, the genius was the little Marseillais, not the Argentinian. He dared to do things that nobody expected.”
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Ligue 1 star ‘was better than Messi in dribbling and creating chances’
That 2-0 PSG victory four years ago will, of course, be remembered in the history books as the day Messi made his debut. It was also something of a coming-of-age moment for a late-blooming Kebbal, though.
“For a few weeks [at Reims], this kid whom nobody wanted to see in the pros looked a seven-time Ballon d’Or winner in the eye,” recalls Ouest France reporter Guillaume Laine.
“At one point, the statistics even showed that he was better than Messi in dribbling and creating chances. That shows the impact he had upon his arrival at the elite level.”
Flash forward to 2026, though, and the Kebbal now catching the eye of West Ham United is a more consistent, ruthless performer. From flashes of Messi-esque magic to goals and assists on a very regular basis. Kebbal has scored or assisted 12 goals in 19 starts this season, compared to five in 21 during that breakout campaign with Reims.
“Ilan Kebbal is the story of a talent whose doors were closed to him for a long time because he didn’t fit the physical requirements of modern football,” Laine adds of a diminutive pocket rocket of a footballer who, while small at 5ft 7ins, plays like a giant.
“Today, he is no longer just a flashy player or a crazy dribbler; he has become the technical leader and driving force of Paris FC.”
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