With the Lucas Paqueta saga entering its final stages, former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan cannot help but wonder what the immediate future holds for the embattled West Ham United playmaker.
It has been two years since the FA opened proceedings against Lucas Paqueta for alleged spot-fixing breaches.
And, while the Football Association were pushing for a lifetime ban from the sport, it appears that the Brazil international will eventually emerge victorious from a saga which has, if not completely ruined two years of his career, then certainly interrupted them.
While Hammers News have been informed that Paqueta could still have a few weeks to wait until the final verdict is made public, The Times report that the former Lyon and AC Milan ace is likely to be cleared.
Thus, allowing Lucas Paqueta to kick-start his career, either at West Ham United or further afield.
And, as Simon Jordan puts it in conversation with talkSPORT, giving him the chance to bite back at those who felt that his time in the Premier League was stumbling towards a very unsatisfactory conclusion.
Simon Jordan predicts Lucas Paqueta’s next steps at West Ham United
Jordan, who worked as the chairman of West Ham’s London neighbours Crystal Palace from 2000 to 2010, cannot envisage a world in which Paqueta returns to his Brazilian roots this summer.
He has a point to prove in English football after a 2024/25 campaign stalled by understandable off-field distractions.
“Would you feel that way if you were innocent? You’re playing in the biggest league in the world. Would you want to go back to somewhere you’ve left?” Jordan asks when asked about reports suggesting Paqueta could re-join a Flamengo side he bid farewell to back in 2019.
“If he’s not found guilty, even more so you would want to say; ‘Well, I tell you what, you had your pound of flesh and got nowhere with it. I’m going to have mine now!'”
While West Ham missed out on an eye-watering £80 million windfall, Lucas Paqueta missed out on joining Manchester City when the investigation into those alleged betting breaches began in August 2023.
Paqueta was on the verge of signing for Pep Guardiola’s side at the time.
Jordan highlights failed Manchester City switch as Graham Potter speaks out
Hammers News have been informed that Man City remain big fans of Lucas Paqueta, and Jordan is intrigued to see how the man himself responds after breaking free of two years in purgatory.
“The interesting thing for me, if you have been accused as something as defining as this, which could jeopardise your career, that has certainly scuppered huge financial transactions for you to go to bigger clubs than West Ham, the next thing you will do I would imagine if you’re cleared is you
will sue,” Jordan adds, wondering if the legal drama is only just beginning.
“It will be interesting to see what he does next, or what West Ham do with him next. Where he goes and what challenges await him as a result of this.”
Shortly after West Ham’s 2-1 defeat by a Bruno Fernandes-inspired Manchester United in Chicago, Graham Potter gave Paqueta his backing.
“I don’t know anything [about the eventual verdict],” Potter said. “I just know we have to support him. He has been through a long ordeal.
“He is a big personality in the group.”
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