Hammers majority owner David Sullivan has confirmed the current Lucas Paqueta situation as the FA stay tight-lipped on West Ham star.
Dark clouds were gathering when, out of the blue, it emerged that Man City wanted West Ham talisman Lucas Paqueta towards the end of the summer window.
When it was reported he – like most footballers it must be said – also wanted the move, a deal of around £80-85m was said to be close to being agreed between the Hammers and Manchester City.
But when allegations over illegal betting – which Paqueta vehemently denies – emerged, that move collapsed.
And it has turned out to be one of the best things to happen to West Ham – for the time being at least.
It has all gone quiet in terms of the accusations against Paqueta since as the Brazilian waited to be interviewed by the Football Association.
We reported on a major update last week from a Hammers board confidant who claimed Paqueta had in fact already been interviewed by the FA over their enquiry with another meeting on the cards in the coming weeks.
It was also reiterated that the midfielder continues to protest his innocence.
There have been some unsubstantiated rumours that the matter could be dropped. And while that would be great news for Paqueta – it is suggested that could see the move to Man City resurrected.
So Hammers News has spoken briefly to the club’s majority owner and the FA for confirmation as to where things stand.
David Sullivan confirms the current Paqueta situation as the FA stay tight-lipped on West Ham star.
Speaking to Hammers News Sullivan said: “On Paqueta, the FA they are still investigating.”
When we spoke to the FA we asked for confirmation as to whether Paqueta has indeed spoken to the authority and if/when he was due to do so again.
We also asked what stage proceedings are at for the investigation into the West Ham star.
As we expected, though, the FA declined to comment in what we now have confirmed is an ongoing investigation.
When the accusations first emerged we warned to expect the situation to drag on for an extended period.
A similar investigation into Granit Xhaka at Arsenal around alleged irregular betting patterns lasted 17 months before he was finally cleared of any wrongdoing in May of this year.
Multiple investigations into the matter finally concluded that there was no case to answer for the former Gunners midfielder, as reported by The Daily Mail.
The Mail also explained how Xhaka was cleared by three separate agencies; the FA, Gambling Commission and the National Crime Agency.
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