West Ham United could sign a very highly-rated replacement for midfielder Lucas Paqueta in a Martin Odegaard-like player at a price of around £20 million, with under-fire manager Julen Lopetegui needing all the help he can get right now.
Lucas Paqueta faces spot-fixing allegations at West Ham
The Brazil international’s future in east London is precarious at best, as Paqueta faces allegations by the FA for spot-fixing on multiple occasions since his £51 million move to England from Lyon.
West Ham player who AC Milan have wanted for ages could leave in January
The Rossoneri could have another opportunity.
ByEmilio GalantiniNov 20, 2024
The FA have accused Paqueta of purposely influencing play and the betting markets by picking up deliberate yellow cards, which relate to matches against Leicester City, Aston Villa, Leeds United and Bournemouth in the Premier League.
Match
Date
Opponent
Competition
Result
#13
09/11/2024
Everton (H)
Premier League
0-0 draw
#12
02/11/2024
Nottingham Forest (A)
Premier League
3-0 loss
#11
27/10/2024
Man United (H)
Premier League
2-1 win
#10
19/10/2024
Tottenham (A)
Premier League
4-1 loss
#9
05/10/2024
Ipswich (H)
Premier League
4-1 win
#8
28/09/2024
Brentford (A)
Premier League
1-1 draw
#7
25/09/2024
Liverpool (A)
Carabao Cup
5-1 loss
#6
21/09/2024
Chelsea (H)
Premier League
3-0 loss
#5
14/09/2024
Fulham (A)
Premier League
1-1 draw
#4
31/08/2024
Man City (H)
Premier League
3-1 loss
#3
28/08/2024
Bournemouth (H)
Carabao Cup
1-0 win
#2
24/08/2024
Crystal Palace (A)
Premier League
2-0 win
#1
17/08/2024
Aston Villa (H)
Premier League
2-1 loss
The 27-year-old has released a statement proclaiming his innocence, while West Ham have reportedly hired top lawyer Nick De Marco in an effort to back Paqueta in court.
In any case, West Ham have been criticised for not performing their due diligence on Paqueta before spending north of £50 million on him, with ex-Hammers recruitment employee Mick Brown telling Football Insider it was a real lapse in judgement.
“I was told there was an £80million deal going on with Man City,” said Brown.
“That failed as a result of the accusations against him. So somebody at the club has to question how it was that they didn’t know that there was an issue. The same thing happened with the Italian midfielder at Newcastle [Tonali].
“You’ve missed out on a big-money sale and then the player gets taken away, essentially, without anything coming the other way. How did the FA know enough to investigate, but West Ham didn’t? You have to ask real questions of the club in that situation.”
West Ham could sign James McAtee for just £20 million
According to CaughtOffside, Man City midfielder James McAtee is being considered as a potential long-term heir for Paqueta – as Irons chiefs hold a theory that he would be ideal for that role.
The English talent is attracting interest from a host of other sides, though, including Leeds United, Celtic, Lens, Lille, Southampton, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City, Feyenoord, VfB Stuttgart and Girona.
West Ham could sign McAtee for around £20 million, as per this report, which is quite the bargain considering his stellar reputation and likeness to Arsenal captain Odegaard.
“He’s a bonus player in that he plays midfield and you have an extra number in there, but then he can just attack,” said former Sheffield United striker Carl Asaba.
“He’s like Odegaard. You play him in midfield so he’s defending for you, he’s another body for them to try and navigate away from but he likes the ball 30 yards out because he can go past you like you’re not there.”