Lucas Paqueta and his agent were open to a move to Newcastle United in the summer when it became obvious his time at Lyon was coming to an end.
But with Eddie Howe in need of a forward, Newcastle looked elsewhere towards the end of the summer window to leave West Ham to the 25-year-old Brazil star. Indeed, as the deal for Alexander Isak was going through in late August, the former Flamengo and AC Milan player was already making his way to London to complete his £51million switch to the London Stadium.
As "come and get me" pleas go, Paqueta went as far as he could at the end of last season by taking a tour of the city with close pal and even donning a Newcastle kit in Bruno Guimaraes' garden for an end of term kickabout. But even in May, Lucas was not high on Eddie Howe's list with the Toon boss content with his midfield options and looking to improve other areas of his team's spine.
READ MORE: Newcastle United 1-1 West Ham: Callum Wilson ends drought but Hammers dig in for a point
Howe was eager to sign Sven Botman, Isak and Nick Pope and nobody can argue with the way things have turned out. Newcastle sit in a Champions League position with 17 matches to go.
Botman has been sensational, Nick Pope has been in the form of his life and Isak has impressed in the glimpses we've seen from the Sweden international. Paqueta has done reasonably well for West Ham but in a struggling team but his celebrations at St James' Park in the 1-1 draw were far from low key.
Whether he was keen to make a point only he will know but his team-mate Vladimir Coufal said after the game: "Lucas is playing like he was on the Copacabana. "He is enjoying his football and sometimes when I see him with the ball, I am enjoying it on the pitch too and I don’t want to interrupt him – pass to me if you want, but if not then no worries!"
The dream ticket for fans last summer was to see Bruno and Lucas team up in the middle at St James' Park. But this season Sean Longstaff has stepped up the plate and been excellent while Joe Willock has also improved under Howe.
The only irony now is that Newcastle are light on midfielders with Bruno suspended and Jonjo Shelvey sold to Nottingham Forest. It's an area that United will look to address in the summer.
However, for Paqueta it was simply a case of the stars not aligning at the right time for him and Newcastle. Howe knows he is a class act but his judgement has been excellent in the transfer market during his time at St James' Park.
