Flamengo have concluded their pursuit of Lucas Paquetá by agreeing to sign the West Ham midfielder for €42m (£36.7m). Paquetá has been pushing for a return to Brazil and negotiations came to a successful end on Wednesday after Flamengo had three offers rejected.
West Ham are in a relegation battle and at first tried to convince Paquetá to stay. They initially indicated they would sell the Brazil international only if Flamengo loaned him back for the rest of the season. However Paquetá has grown disillusioned with life in England and was desperate to secure an immediate move to his former club.
The 28-year-old has struggled with the emotional strain of being accused of spot-fixing three years ago. Paquetá faced the possibility of a lifetime ban and was denied a move to Manchester City after the Football Association’s investigation came to light. He was cleared of the charges last summer.
West Ham stood by Paquetá during the investigation and felt let down when he asked to leave this month. Yet they have accepted that there was little to gain from making him stay. Paquetá asked to be left out of the FA Cup win over Queens Park Rangers this month and was absent for their last two league games with a minor back problem.
West Ham have flourished without the Brazilian, who joined from Lyon for £51m in 2022. Paquetá delivered the assist for Jarrod Bowen’s winner in the Conference League final in June 2023 and is regarded as the club’s most naturally gifted player but his form has been inconsistent during the past three seasons. He has four goals in 18 appearances this season and was sent off after two yellow cards for dissent within seconds during a defeat by Liverpool in November.
West Ham also signed Adama Traoré from Fulham for a small undisclosed fee on Wednesday, and their midfielder James Ward-Prowse underwent a medical at Burnley with a view to joining on loan for the rest of the season.
Ward-Prowse has been out of favour at West Ham since the appointment of Nuno Espírito Santo as manager in September. The former Southampton player was cut from the first-team squad and has not featured under Nuno. Ward-Prowse had a similar experience during a loan at Nottingham Forest last season. He quickly dropped out of Nuno’s plans and was sent back to West Ham early.
The 31-year-old, a popular presence at the club, has mostly trained away from the main group. It was not viewed as a U-turn by Nuno when he included Ward-Prowse in a matchday squad for the first time for the win over Sunderland last Saturday. Sources pointed out that a space on the bench had to be filled after West Ham agreed to let Guido Rodríguez join Valencia on the night before the game. It was too late for an academy player to be added to the main group because the Under-21s had played on Friday night.
Burnley hope the experience of Ward-Prowse, a £30m West Ham signing from Southampton in 2023, can help them in their relegation fight. West Ham have also allowed the midfielders Andy Irving and Rodríguez to leave.
Traoré is understood to have signed until June. Nuno, who worked with the winger at Wolves, is rebalancing his squad with a view to keeping the club in the Premier League. Igor Julio’s loan from Brighton has been cut short, allowing West Ham to pursue temporary moves for the Tottenham goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky and the Chelsea defender Axel Disasi.
“Adama is someone who knows the Premier League very well,” Nuno said, “and his qualities – both as a player and a person – will help us between now and the end of the season. He will give us a different option in attacking areas.”
