West Ham United have made their move for the Arsenal-linked midfielder Lucas Paqueta. The Brazilian has been mentioned as a potential midfield target for the Gunners since the early stages of the window.
Now, according to Sky Sports, West Ham United have made a €40m (£34m) move for the Lyon playmaker. Arsenal, meanwhile, continue to be linked with both Youri Tielemans and Pedro Neto.
That said, it has been theorised that the Gunners’ interest would persist into the next window. Transfer journalist Sacha Tavolieri suggested Arsenal would wait until January before making a move for Paqueta.
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He tweeted: "My feeling is that #Arsenal will wait the winter for trying to get Lucas Paqueta (who’s the real priority of Edu Gaspar in the midfield) as there is no real need at this position for the moment. So Youri is interesting for #AFC, but not priority."
That said, could a move by West Ham accelerate their plans regarding the Lyon star? The evidence suggests not, with technical director Edu already having effectively ruled out a move for the player citing the presence of too many players who already play his role.
"I’m very respectful when I talk about Lucas," Edu told TNT Sports Brazil. "I’m a guy who likes him a lot, I’ve always liked him, since my time with Brazil’s national team. He’s had a great season, he was considered the best [overseas] player in the French league.
"But today, there really isn’t any kind of talk, there’s only my admiration for the player, because the squad today is, in the position he plays, I think we’re very well served in this regard."
Martin Odegaard, Emile Smith-Rowe and Fabio Vieira all fulfil the position that Paqueta would come in for. However, there is a strong argument that the left-eight position currently filled by Xhaka would be better improved by the Brazilian than the consistently-linked Tielemans.
football.london understands the interest in the Belgian persists, although Edu is in no hurry to secure a deal, with his patience extending even until 2023 when the player’s contract expires. Arsenal are open to doing more business between now and the end of the window but time is fast running out.
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