West Ham lost control after 56th minute decision and now Lucas Paqueta could be sold – view

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Lucas Paqueta seemingly faces an extremely uncertain future at West Ham United.

Despite his goal against Bournemouth, Julen Lopetegui clearly used him in the wrong position from the start.

West Ham signed Lucas Paqueta from Lyon for around £51 million in the summer of 2022.

• Read also: 5 takeaways from Bournemouth vs West Ham draw; no striker, no midfield and the curious case of two right-backs

However, if we’e being honest with ourselves, that really hasn’t turned out to be money well spent at all.

It is worth noting that his off-field problems have clearly impacted his ability to perform consistently for the Hammers.

The 27-year-old has been hit with four separate charges pertaining to potential betting breaches, and he apparently faces a lifetime ban if found guilty.

It has been an extremely challenging 16 months or so for Paqueta and those close to him.

And I firmly believe that if an offer of any kind came in for the former Lyon man in January, the West Ham owners would sell him in a flash.

West Ham lost control vs Bournemouth, now Lucas Paqueta could be sold

The Brazil international bagged our goal from the penalty spot last night.

However, his overall performance was nowhere near good enough in my opinion.

I personally think Carlos Soler is a lot more effective in this West Ham team, and I think Lopetegui realises that now.

When the clock turned to the 56th minute of the game, Lopetegui decided to take Soler off and replace him with Niclas Fullkrug.

From that point onwards the Hammers completely lost our shape and any semblance of control we had in the game.

Ideally, Lopetegui would have Soler pulling the strings in the number 10 role, with a solid double pivot behind him.

That obviously doesn’t bode well for Paqueta.

Soler has started ahead of the Brazilian in the last few games and the only reason he was subbed off yesterday was because he had been booked.

It’s worth remembering, Soler was one of the few signings that Lopetegui pushed for in the summer, so he clearly rates his countryman very highly indeed.

I don’t feel like there’s room for both Carlos Soler AND Lucas Paqueta at West Ham.

If Lopetegui is still in charge come the end of the season, and I hope that he isn’t, I would imagine that he’ll push to keep Soler whilst moving on Paqueta.

However, much will depend on the outcome of the betting charges the Brazilian faces.