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Football London
Football London
Sport
Jonty Colman

Lucas Paqueta makes West Ham admission and sets personal challenge after Fulham victory

West Ham United midfielder Lucas Paqueta feels he is starting to improve at the London Stadium since his summer move to the Hammers.

Paqueta signed for West Ham from Olympique Lyonnais in the summer for an initial fee of £36.7million, potentially rising to as high as £52.6m if all add-ons are eventually triggered in the deal.

In recent performances Paqueta has started to show his creative qualities, with fancy flicks and assists for Gianluca Scamacca in each of the Hammers’ last two wins over Anderlecht and Fulham, putting in a man of the match display Sunday’s 3-1 win over their London rivals.

READ MORE: BBC pundit makes exciting West Ham prediction about Lucas Paqueta and Gianluca Scamacca

Speaking after his outing against the Cottagers, Paqueta was happy with the performance of both himself and the team and he feels that he is growing more and more in a West Ham shirt and can only see himself improving further from here.

"I’m happy. Firstly with the performance of the team,” said Paqueta to a Portuguese journalist. "We knew it would be a really hard game.

“We fell behind, which really changes the way you have to play, your game plan. We had to try and keep our heads and look for a way back.

“I’m happy with my performance and my assist. I’m feeling more and more comfortable, understanding my team-mates more. I believe I can only get better."

One of Paqueta’s challenges of settling into life in England at West Ham is learning English, a language he did not know how to speak prior to his move to London.

He admits that he is finding the language tough to learn, but is slowly improving thanks to regular lessons and has set himself the challenge of being able to speak English.

"I was really pleased with the recognition, the support, the confidence they have in me,” Paqueta added. “I hope that I paid it back on the pitch.

“The language is still very difficult for me. I’m doing lessons and trying my very best. It’s necessary – to speak to my team-mates, the coaches. But I’m dedicating myself to it and hope to be able to speak a little bit soon."

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