West Ham’s £38m deal to sell Lucas Paqueta to Flamengo is ‘ready to be sealed in black and white’ after three days of talks, sources in Brazil have claimed.
The Lucas Paqueta saga is almost at an end as West Ham close on a £38m deal to sell him back to Flamengo, it has emerged on Sunday evening.
The Hammers showed there is life without their £51m record signing Paqueta as they ended a dismal 10-game winless streak in the Premier League by beating bitter rivals Spurs on Saturday.
Speculation had been rife all week that Paqueta would miss the crucial game after he sat out West Ham’s FA Cup third round win over QPR.
West Ham’s Paqueta saga nearing £38m end?
The Brazilian’s camp claimed he was suffering with a back injury.
But the fast-developing soap opera took a messy twist when West Ham’s board accused Paqueta of ‘lies’ and ‘playing games’ as he tries to force a move away.
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Hammers News revealed ahead of the Spurs clash that Paqueta would not travel to north London with a move to Flamengo edging closer.
While his teammates were beating fierce rivals Tottenham 2-1, Paqueta risked the wrath of West Ham over secret calls with Flamengo’s manager.
The Hammers put in a display fans could be proud of as they showed there is hope of surviving the drop without inconsistent Paqueta in the team.
Widespread reports claimed talks were held between the clubs on Friday and Saturday over a fee, with West Ham wanting around £42.5m – some £10m more than the opening offer they reportedly rejected from the Brazilian giants.
Flamengo are comfortably the biggest club outside of Europe with well over 10 million fans.
The Black and Red are also flush with cash from their exploits at the FIFA Club World Cup.
West Ham’s Paqueta deal ‘ready to be sealed in black and white’
West Ham know that and have been determined to make Paqueta’s first – and boyhood – club pay a realistic fee.
Now West Ham’s £38m Paqueta deal is ‘ready to be sealed in black and white’ according to sources in Brazil.
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According to a prominent Flamengo insider on X, ‘the deal for Paqueta is to arrive now’ after positive talks with West Ham over the fee on Sunday.
“There’s already a verbal agreement between West Ham and Flamengo for Paquetá to don the colours of the Carioca Rubro-Negro,” Bastidores Fla told its 111,000 followers.
“Flamengo received the positive signal from West Ham in the last few hours regarding the values, and now everything will be put down in black and white for the transfer to finally be completed.
“The DEAL is for Paquetá to arrive NOW.
“The final bureaucratic details are being ironed out to seal the transfer. It’s important to highlight that Paquetá was key in this outcome, playing a decisive role in the negotiations.
“As for the total values, Flamengo will shell out approximately 42.5 million euros (£38m), including bonuses and set targets.
“The star forged in the Ninho do Urubu will arrive as Flamengo’s main reinforcement for the year!”
The news comes with two weeks left of the January transfer window, West Ham’s last chance to bring in reinforcements to help keep them up.
After the win over Spurs, Nuno Espirito Santo once again stated he needs more signings and reiterated he must ‘rebalance West Ham’s squad’.
The Hammers have been linked with a number of attackers, midfielders, goalkeepers and centre-backs with at least three more signings wanted according to information received by Hammers News.
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