West Ham United have confirmed the signing of Lyon midfielder Lucas Paqueta.
The Brazilian moves to the Premier League outfit from Ligue 1 side Lyon for a club-record fee eclipsing their previous record of £45million paid to Eintracht Frankfurt for Sebastien Haller. The 25-year-old has signed an initial five-year contract at the London Stadium with a one-year option as manager David Moyes adds strength to his attacking options.
The Hammers have scored just once in their opening four Premier League games, Pablo Fornals getting the winning goal in Sunday’s 1-0 victory at Aston Villa. Paqueta started his career at Flamengo, before moving to Europe when he joined AC Milan in 2019.
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He spent two seasons in Serie A but only managed one goal in 37 league outings for the Rossoneri before landing a move to Lyon. There his form improved, hitting 21 goals in 80 games across all competitions while also locking down his spot in the Brazil squad.
"I am extremely happy to be here. I hope it’s the beginning of an enjoyable journey. I hope my time here is successful," said the South American, who will wear the No11 shirt in Claret and Blue, most recently worn by Nikola Vlasic. "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, to help my teammates and the club."
West Ham manager David Moyes has hailed Paqueta’s all-round qualities, insisting he is "delighted" with his new signing.
"I’m delighted to welcome Lucas to West Ham,” said Moyes, who made Paquetá his eighth signing of the summer window, following Gianluca Scamacca, Nayef Aguerd, Emerson Palmieri, Maxwel Cornet, Thilo Kehrer, Alphonse Areola and Flynn Downes. He’s a player I’ve admired from afar for a very long time and of course, we saw him close up in our Europa League campaign last season.
"He’s a very talented footballer and whilst he will need time to adapt to the Premier League, we’re excited about adding another proven international to our squad."
It comes following reports that Premier League rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur may have been plotting a last-ditch attempt to gazump West Ham to the player's signature.
Earlier on Monday Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas had suggested another Premier League club was ready to swoop in with a last-minute offer for the player. Aulas told Canal +: "It's unfortunate that Lucas Paqueta is leaving. But he wanted to leave. We thought we had very big clubs, we didn't have them. We had to discuss at the last moment with West Ham.
"Now I know there was an English club who wanted to come forward at the last moment so maybe tomorrow morning we will wake up with something new. I can't tell you the name."
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