Lucas Paqueta says his move to West Ham can help make him a World Cup winner with Brazil and his teammates agree.
There has been enormous excitement at West Ham around the record signing of Paqueta from Lyon.
West Ham signed eight players in the summer window.
But there is no doubt the arrival of the Brazilian midfield star has caught the imagination more than any other.
The recent postponement of football means West Ham fans are having to be patient to get a proper look at Paqueta in full flow.
The games will start coming thick and fast between now and the break for the winter World Cup.
West Ham fans feel pure excitement at having Brazil’s number 10 playing for them in his prime.
Well just wait until they experience the pride of seeing him line up for A Seleceao on the biggest stage of them all.
West Ham new boy Paqueta has been the standout player of Brazil’s World Cup qualification campaign. And this is a Brazil team currently ranked by FIFA as the best in the world.
The Premier League is also widely regarded as the best in the world. It is certainly a level above Ligue 1, where Paqueta had shone for Lyon.
Now Paqueta says West Ham can make him a World Cup winner with Brazil and his teammates agree.
The 25-year-old believes his move to the London Stadium and playing in the best league in the world will elevate his game even further.
And he has revealed in The Times that his Brazil teammates feel the same, with the general consensus being that the more of them who play in the Premier League, the better it will be for the national side.
“For a start, it’s the best league in the world and I don’t think anyone doubts it,” Paqueta told The Times about the reasoning behind his move to West Ham and the Prem.
“The Brazilians talk about that. The ones who are here say to the others, ‘You have to come — you’re playing in a league that is the absolute best level, a different level to elsewhere’.
“I’m really happy that I’m now here (in England with West Ham) and there are so many Brazilians here too. I think, in turn, the Premier League will help the performance of Brazil improve because we’re playing at the very top.”
Paqueta is in good company as he targets lifting the 2022 World Cup, 56 years after West Ham’s legendary trio of Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters.
West Ham do of course have a World Cup winner in their midst in the shape of Alphonse Areola, who was part of the squad when France won it back in 2018.
And Paqueta’s West Ham teammates Declan Rice and Jarrod Bowen will be hoping to taste the ultimate glory with England too.