Man City have recently been negotiating with West Ham for their record signing Lucas Paqueta, and despite reportedly having a £70m bid turned down for the Brazilian, that hasn’t stopped the Cityzens from walking away.
Or it hadn’t stopped them.
Things have changed significantly over the past couple of days, with news that the player is under investigation by the Football Association for potential betting rule breaches, according to sources speaking to BBC Sport.
It’s a situation that has also seen him omitted from Brazil’s squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
The development is as unexpected as it is shocking, and it looks to have derailed the deal entirely.
‘Following the recent betting-related allegations made against Lucas Paqueta, Manchester City are now internally discussing the Brazilian’s potential transfer,’ Fabrizio Romano wrote in his exclusive CaughtOffside Substack.
‘The deal between Manchester City and West Ham is currently off. We can say that is 99% collapsed and we’re just waiting for the final communication, but this is the feeling. The situation is very clear.’
Although it appears that the player himself has denied any wrongdoing, the fact that there is an investigation would suggest that the FA have information or evidence that would contradict Paqueta’s statements.
From West Ham’s point of view, not only have they not been able to sell their player on for a significant amount and bring in potential replacements, but they may well be without Paqueta for a significant period if any allegations are proven in due course.
It’s certainly a distraction that David Moyes doesn’t need ahead of the Hammers first home game against London rivals, Chelsea, and it will be interesting to see if he plays Paqueta or not.