Manchester City have received a boost in their pursuit of West Ham United midfielder Lucas Paqueta, according to a report.
The Citizens were strongly linked with the 26-year-old during the second half of last summer’s transfer window as they prepared to cope without star playmaker Kevin De Bruyne for several months due to injury.
Man City were allegedly close to reaching an agreement with West Ham to sign Paqueta for a deal worth in excess of £80m, with the Brazil international having already agreed personal terms with the treble winners.
However, a proposed move to the Etihad Stadium failed to materialise for Paqueta, who was the subject of a FIFA and FA investigation into suspicious betting activity.
Man City eventually turned their attention to recruiting both Jeremy Doku from Rennes and Matheus Nunes from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a combined fee of just over £100m.
According to Football Insider, West Ham will soon discover the verdict of Paqueta’s alleged betting breaches, with the investigation now on the verge of completion.
A separate report from the same news outlet states that Man City still hold an interest in Paqueta ahead of this summer’s transfer window and West Ham are unlikely to resist suitable offers for the midfielder.
It is also claimed that the future of manager David Moyes – who is out of contract this summer and has been linked with a possible exit from the London Stadium – will have no bearing on the Hammers’ decision to keep or sell Paqueta.
Paqueta joined West Ham from Lyon for a club-record £51m in August 2022 and enjoyed a successful debut campaign under Moyes, recording six goals and seven assists in 43 appearances as well as winning the Europa Conference League.
The Rio de Janeiro-born playmaker has since chipped in with five goals and six assists in 27 games across all competitions so far this term, although he has been sidelined since mid-January with a calf injury.
It is thought that Paqueta would be tempted by a potential future transfer to Man City even though he still has three-and-a-half years remaining on his West Ham contract.
Man City manager Pep Guardiola already has a wealth of attacking options at his disposal, with De Bruyne, Nunes, Doku, Julian Alvarez, Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish and Oscar Bobb all capable of operating in behind central striker Erling Haaland.
De Bruyne, Bernardo and Foden were all on the scoresheet for the Citizens in their 3-1 away victory over Copenhagen in the first leg of their last-16 tie in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Paqueta is not the only Brazilian on Man City’s radar, as they have reportedly agreed a deal to sign winger Savio – who is currently on loan at Girona – from sister club Troyes this summer.
