West Ham’s top stars will be on transfer radar this summer

National World - LocalTV

West Ham may have had their ups and downs this season, but one constant source of excitement has been Lucas Paquetá. The Brazilian midfielder has shown flashes of world-class brilliance — the kind that gets fans off their seats and opposition players chasing shadows.

Transcript

00:00Now, West Ham have had their ups and downs this season,

00:05but one constant source of excitement has been Lucas Paqueta.

00:09The Brazilian midfielder has shown flashes of his world-class brilliance,

00:13the kind that gets fans firing off their seats and opposition players chasing shadows.

00:19I spoke to London World's James Jones about Paqueta's recent performances,

00:24and he clearly pointing out there are moments when you watch him

00:26and think this guy could play for any team in the world.

00:30Paqueta's flair and unpredictability have been crucial for the Hammers,

00:34especially in tight games where a moment of magic can swing the momentum.

00:38James highlighted how important it is for West Ham to build around him this summer

00:43due to his uncertain future at the club.

00:46While consistency is still a work in progress, the signs are clear.

00:50Paqueta is more than just a luxury player.

00:52He's a match winner, a difference maker,

00:54and someone West Ham should be looking to keep at the centre of their project.

01:00Yeah, and just on Lucas Paqueta, I mean, obviously,

01:05he's maybe not shown his out-and-out best this season for West Ham,

01:09but the performance away at Liverpool, he was, you know,

01:12fairly remarkable, even Arnie Schlotzet after the game,

01:14how, you know, he's come over from Dutch football

01:17and he's realised how tough the Premier League is

01:19because, you know, teams, Linguishwin, around the bottom half of the table,

01:23have these superstars still within their ranks.

01:26I mean, it's a big compliment from the manager who's going to go on

01:30to win the Premier League title.

01:32Just how important is Paqueta when he is at his best?

01:34And, you know, it's obviously not been shown as much as it could have been this season,

01:39but surely he's a player that they really want to make sure they keep in the summer

01:43and can take West Ham forward next season.

01:47Yeah, well, obviously, Lucas Paqueta's future is still a little bit up in the air.

01:51There are a lot of question marks over what's going to happen

01:54with Lucas Paqueta off the pitch.

01:55His case with the FA has been adjourned until the end of the season,

02:00so we don't really know.

02:03If it comes out positively, then the club will no doubt be looking,

02:07ideally, be hoping to keep him.

02:09It's clear that Graham Potter likes him

02:12and he enjoys playing under Graham Potter.

02:14You know, he's played his best football since Graham Potter came into the team.

02:18And his best performance this season was arguably against Liverpool at Anfield last weekend,

02:22where particularly in the second half, he ran the show.

02:25And yes, people, you know, many were pointing at his attempts to try and buy a free kick

02:31in the build-up to, in the lead-up to Liverpool's corner that got them the winner.

02:36But that's Paqueta. He does things like that.

02:38We know he's done that for the last three years.

02:40He has moments like that where he tries to do something a little bit silly

02:44or try and win a free kick.

02:45But 90% of the time, when he's on his day, he's one of the best players on the pitch.

02:51You know, he is, there's a reason why Manchester City wanted to pay £85 million for him

02:55before everything came out about his spot-fixing allegations.

02:59So, he is a very, very important player for West Ham,

03:02a very important player for Graham Potter.

03:04And if we can keep him in that kind of form that we saw against Liverpool

03:07for the rest of the season, then he'll be a huge boost for us

03:10as we try and pick up as many points as possible,

03:12just to take a little bit of good feeling and a little bit of good positivity

03:16into the summer when that rebuild happens.

03:20If he does leave, then, you know, I think we can,

03:24he's had a fantastic three years at West Ham United.

03:27He was the guy that set up Jarrod Bowen in the Conference League final

03:30in the last minute to win us that trophy.

03:32So, West Ham fans love him.

03:35He's a frustrating player at times.

03:38But we know that on his day, and he was on his day against Liverpool last weekend,

03:43he's a fantastic footballer and an incredibly important player in this squad.

03:48So, it'll be interesting to see what happens with his case, with the FA.

03:53But it does make me wonder, and this is pure just in my opinion,

03:57that perhaps we might be looking at a more positive outcome on that

04:01given the form that he's in at the moment.

04:03And he's had a lot of distractions this season,

04:06but it didn't seem like he had any distractions on Sunday.

04:09So, hopefully, that's a good sign that we've got some positive news coming in May.

04:13But we'll see, we'll see.

04:14But at the moment, we just want to keep him informed,

04:17keep him playing like that,

04:18and hopefully, it will help us start picking up some results.

04:23So, hopefully, if we can get him back to his very best

04:25between now and the end of the season, at least,

04:28then, you know, that's incredibly important for the final six games.

04:32But no doubt, regardless of his form this year,

04:36regardless of his lack of output, his lack of numbers,

04:39there will be, no doubt, a lot of interest in him this summer.

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