August 30, (THEWILL) – Brazilian midfielder, Lucas Paqueta, has signed for West Ham from Lyon for a club-record deal.
Paqueta departs Lyon for east London for a rumoured £36.5 million fee, with a further £14.4 million in prospective add-ons. The 25-year-old agreed to a five-year contract with an extra one-year extension option.
Former Lyon teammate and fellow Brazilian international, Bruno Guimaraes and Paqueta have previously been mentioned as possible reunion candidates at Newcastle United. He will now, however, be his countryman’s adversary, after joining West Ham as their ninth acquisition of the summer window.
Speaking after signing, Paqueta said: “I am extremely happy to be here. I hope it’s the beginning of an enjoyable journey. I hope my time here is successful. Last season, West Ham had a very good season and I hope they continue to enjoy more and more good seasons in my time at the club. I am excited to pull on the West Ham shirt and show the fans what I can do.”
Paqueta will join Declan Rice in the Hammers’ midfield and they will be counting on him to significantly increase their creative play. West Ham has had a poor start to the new campaign, dropping their first three games without scoring, but they recovered on Sunday by defeating Aston Villa 1-0.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
