West Ham United star Lucas Paqueta has shared his admiration for our Premier League rivals Newcastle United.
Lucas Paqueta joined West Ham from Lyon back in the summer of 2022, just seven months after Bruno Guimaraes moved to Newcastle from the same club.
The two Brazilians are best of friends away from football, and the duo often troll each other jokingly on social media.
This season hasn’t gone that well for Paqueta, and the same can be said for Bruno, given the expectations on his shoulders.
| Premier League stats 2023/24 | Lucas Paqueta | Bruno Guimaraes |
| Goals | 4 | 6 |
| Assists | 6 | 6 |
| Key passes per game | 1.4 | 1.6 |
| Pass completion | 75.1% | 85.2% |
| Tackles per game | 2.3 | 2.4 |
| Yellow cards | 10 | 9 |
The two South American stars are key figures for the Hammers and Magpies respectively.
And with Paqueta’s future at West Ham far from certain right now, it wouldn’t be unrealistic to think that the two players could line up alongside one another next season…
Lucas Paqueta bigs up Newcastle
The 26-year-old Hammer has already been strongly linked with a move to Newcastle this summer.
He has an £85 million release clause inserted into his current contract at the London Stadium, so we will be powerless to stop him from leaving if a club comes in and activates said clause.
The Brazilian is an incredibly talented player, and he will clearly be keen to be playing some kind of European football next season.
Whilst I have my doubts that Newcastle will be able to afford that fee given their current PSR situation, Paqueta himself is certainly a big fan of the Toon.
When being interviewed by ESPN Brazil, Paqueta responded when asked which teams he enjoys watching the most in world football:
“The games I watch most is Real Madrid, and Newcastle for Bruno (Guimarães).”
The fact that Lucas Paqueta is a fan of watching Newcastle games makes me think that he would be open to moving there, if they did come in for him, especially with his best friend playing at St James’ Park.
I’m still hoping that we manage to keep hold of him but there’s an extremely ominous feeling about it all isn’t there.
If we get £85 million for Paqueta, I really don’t think it will be the end of the world.
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