Former West Ham United playmaker Lucas Paqueta is not exactly enjoying a dream start back in Brazil but at least four-goal Flamengo teammate Pedro is lifting the mood at the Maracana.
If they wanted him, there was a chance that Pedro could have moved in the other direction during the winter window. It is probably for the best that he didn’t.
Two months before West Ham United green-lit Lucas Paqueta’s £35 million sale to Flamengo, Hammers News were told that Brazil international Pedro had been ‘offered’ to the Premier League outfit via intermediaries.
How will you remember Lucas Paqueta? 🤔
Flash forward to early March, and that very same Pedro eased the gloom at Flamengo with four goals and one assist in an 8-0 obliteration of Madureira in the Campeonato Carioca.
Not that this means West Ham made the wrong call when turning their attention to other striker targets.
Pedro fires Flamengo to victory after West Ham United overlooked him
Hammers News understands that Pedro was a name put to the Hammers shortly after Nuno Espirito Santo demanded a new striker from the West Ham board. That, though, was as far as things went with the Rio-born 28-year-old.
The Premier League strugglers instead spent in excess of £40 million on Taty Castellanos and Pablo Felipe, signing the duo from Lazio and Gil Vicente respectively.
Pedro, in the space of one Tuesday evening, scored more goals on his own than Castellanos and Pablo have managed between them in a West Ham shirt.
But as much as an 8-0 thrashing of a fourth-tier Madureira side papers over the cracks for Flamengo – Lucas Paqueta was the subject of a brutal mocking when Argentine outfit Lanus stunned the Brazilian champions in the Recopa Sudamerica final over the weekend – a prosperous evening for Pedro goes a long way to massaging some underwhelming recent returns.
He had scored only twice in 12 matches in 2026 before then. And, netting only 15 goals in 36 matches throughout the whole of 2025, that was Pedro’s worst return since 2019.
With his 29th birthday looming, Pedro is not getting any younger either. Having already wasted £27 million on another ageing centre-forward in Niclas Fullkrug, you can understand why the Hammers may have been reluctant to engage any further with the intermediaries pushing a 28-year-old Pedro in their direction, especially following a disappointing campaign in front of goal.
How badly have we missed Pablo Felipe? 👀
Nuno wants him back ASAP 👇
Paqueta struggling as Brazil champions Flamengo fire Filipe Luis
As Paqueta’s ‘suffering’ sparks concern at the Maracana, as former Chelsea and Atletico Madrid left-back Filipe Luis pays with his job following five defeats in 11 games, a four-goal Pedro haul against very limited Serie D opposition is at least a slight step in the right direction and a welcome respite.
For West Ham, though, the fact that Pedro is yet to open his Serie A account in 2026 may prove they were right to steer clear.
Hours before his sacking, Filipe Luis admitted that six-cap poacher only played against Madureira in a rather desperate attempt to get his number nine firing again. Consider that ambition achieved, though Luis will not be around to benefit from a potential Pedro revival.
“Pedro has the right not to be at his best, like everyone else,” Luis said hours before his sacking.
“I want the best Pedro in the world, the Pedro who is decisive and crucial when the ball reaches him. That’s why he played 90 minutes in the first game against Madureira. I want him to score goals, to regain his confidence.
“When the first one went in, he loosened up and everything became easier.”
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