Lucas Paqueta SIGNED

[Alan]

"Lucas Paqueta: Lost in Milan, reborn at Lyon – and now West Ham’s statement signing By James Horncastle From the mountains overlooking Rio de Janeiro you can, on a clear day, see a small island across the Guanabara Bay. It was here, in 1997, that the man set to become West Ham’s club-record signing, Lucas Tolentino Coelho da Lima, was born, a player better known by the name of his birthplace, the once-glamorous Ilha de Paqueta. The journey he embarked on to become a professional footballer began with his grandfather Mirao ushering him and his older brother onto a ferry to cross the water between their home and Rio de Janeiro, where Lucas Paqueta attended Flamengo’s Gavea academy and Matheus trained at Ninho, another of the club’s facilities. Paqueta has a tattoo on his forearm of a star and the letter “M” in recognition of the contribution his late grandfather made in making him who he is today; an established Brazil international upon whom clubs in Italy, France and England have lavished more than €100million (£84.8m; $100m) in transfer fees before his 25th birthday. The “Brazil premium” is still very much a thing, although just imagine what Paqueta would go for had he been born and raised on Canvey Island in Essex and called Luke Canvey. Presumably, he’d make Jack Grealish look cheap. But we digress. At Gavea, the boy off the boat impressed. Growing up on an island with no cars, Paqueta played uninterrupted for hours in the streets and on the beach. He had a rare touch and feel for the game. One of his youth coaches Ze Ricardo marvelled at Paqueta’s universal skill set. He was like every midfielder rolled into one. “He could develop into a No 5, 6, 7, 8, a No 10,” Ze Ricardo told France Football. “He was very intelligent. He knew how to position himself and was fearless.” But at 15, Paqueta was under-sized for his age. The growth spurt his peers experienced didn’t arrive and all of a sudden the star of Flamengo’s youth sector couldn’t get into the team anymore. Paqueta didn’t take it very well. He cried and was irritable. Maybe this was it? All those nights catching the last ferry, the 21-mile roundtrip with Mirao. All for what? To go back to being a tour guide on the island, a job Paqueta did for some extra pocket money in his spare time? His mother wouldn’t stand for it. She went down to the academy and kicked up a fuss. Flamengo came round to her point of view and drew up a bespoke plan for Paqueta. Targeted nutrition, a bit of power training and fitness work had the desired effect and he shot up, gaining about a foot in height. It was all worth it. Paqueta ran the show as Flamengo’s under-17s won the Copinha and when the club’s first-team coach Muricy Ramalho asked the academy chiefs if they had anyone for him, one teenager stood out. Not long after making his debut in the Rio state championship, Paqueta scored his first goal in the professional game. It was no ordinary goal either. Tricks in tight spaces and his knack for making a mark on big occasions — Paqueta scored in the 2017 Copa do Brasil and Copa Sudamericana finals — then quickly made him the darling of Flamengo fans. Among them was one of their former players, Leonardo, who was back at AC Milan as the club’s sporting director. After hanging up his boots, he had cut his teeth in recruitment working under former chief executive Adriano Galliani. As the only Brazilian in Milan’s old offices on Via Turati, the signings of Thiago Silva and Alexandre Pato were widely credited to him. One of Leonardo’s first moves upon returning to the club after leaving Paris Saint-Germain and trying his hand at coaching again with Antalyaspor was to attempt to sign the next big thing out of Brazil. A deal worth €35million was struck with Flamengo in the autumn of 2018 and Paqueta joined the following January. There were echoes of Pato’s arrival a little over a decade earlier and the nostalgia hit hard. Leonardo had accompanied Kaka to Paris to collect his Ballon d’Or in 2007 and, as he left, famously remarked he’d be back with Pato. Injuries ultimately stopped him from fulfilling his potential but the talent was obvious. Memories of the early Pato, along with the illustrious association between Brazil and the last great Milan sides, loaded tremendous expectation on Paqueta’s shoulders. The rainbow flick he performed on his Serie A debut against Genoa only added to it. Had Leonardo only gone and found the new Kaka? Fans at San Siro certainly hoped so. After all, this wasn’t 2003, when Kaka joined a Champions League-winning team and people wondered whether this preppy-looking kid from Sao Paulo would get a game amid competition from Manuel Rui Costa and Rivaldo. In 2019, Milan needed a saviour. The club hadn’t been in the Champions League for five years and would have gone to the wall had Elliott Management not repossessed it from Li Yonghong. The hope projected on Paqueta was that he might almost single-handedly make Milan elite again. Paqueta’s adaptation wasn’t easy. Whereas in the past there would have been a group of players like Dida, Serginho, Cafu, Thiago Silva, Pato and Kaka to help him settle in, by the time Paqueta arrived at Milanello there were no Brazilians left at the club. The second language at Milan these days is French, not Portuguese, and when Leonardo left six months after signing Paqueta, his protege felt isolated. Paqueta was only there a year, but the club went through three coaches. When he joined midway through the season, Rino Gattuso had already settled on his best team and couldn’t find a spot for him. Marco Giampaolo told Paqueta to be “less Brazilian and more concrete, less showy”. By the time Stefano Pioli got the job, the direction of travel was hard to reverse and the midfield player who benefited most from his appointment turned out to be Hakan Calhanoglu. Paqueta, in Pioli’s mind, needed to be “more incisive”. Internally, Milan were of the opinion they had overpaid Flamengo for what Paqueta was at the time. The €21million Lyon were prepared to pay for him in the late summer of 2020 was therefore considered something of a miracle and the 15 per cent sell-on Milan cleverly negotiated means they will get their money back and have a nice windfall ahead of the final week of the transfer window. There are no regrets, even though Lyon will make close to three times what Paqueta cost them. He has flourished in Ligue 1. “I put myself under a lot of pressure in Milan,” Paqueta reflected in L’Equipe. “Too much even. When I moved to France I told myself I didn’t have to put myself through that again. I just had to do my best. “Sometimes there isn’t a reason for failure. My time at Milan wasn’t extraordinary by any means, I probably achieved less than expected, but it served me well and made me a better player; a different, stronger player who rediscovered the essence of what he was at Flamengo. The pressure is still there but it doesn’t come from myself anymore.” In Lyon, Paqueta found another big club, just not one on the same scale as Milan. The environment was less demanding than San Siro and the league less tactically strait-jacketed than Serie A. Behind the transfer was another legend of the Brazilian game, the free-kick maestro Juninho Pernambucano, who had been enticed back to Lyon as the club’s sporting director to build a team mixing the best products of Europe’s finest academy with the technical refinement of his home nation, namely Paqueta, Bruno Guimaraes and Thiago Mendes. The team that reached the semi-finals of the 2020 Champions League under Rudi Garcia, upsetting Juventus and Manchester City along the way, evolved from an aggressive, transition-based 3-5-2 to a 4-3-3 which sought control through a neat possession game made possible thanks to the quintet of Brazilians, Houssem Aouar and Maxence Caqueret. It promised a lot and a 1-0 win away to Mauricio Pochettino’s PSG before Christmas showcased the elegant press-resistant side to Paqueta’s game as he helped Lyon relieve the pressure around their penalty area and get up the pitch. Paqueta offered glimpses of a complete midfielder, whose ability to disrupt opponents as they progressed towards Lyon’s goal married the aesthetic with the aggressive. On the ball, as his smarterscout profile below shows, he often kept his passing short and sharp, with neat interchange (link-up play volume 86 out of 99) rather than longer, searching balls upfield (progressive passing 27 out of 99). Those actions seemingly kept possession at an above-average rate compared with other central attacking midfielders (ball retention ability 59 out of 99). Off the ball, Paqueta’s ability to disrupt opponents with his high volume of defensive actions such as tackles and blocks (disrupting opposition moves 98 out of 99) was also highly effective in preventing opponents from progressing towards Lyon’s goal (defending impact 73 out of 99). Halfway through his first campaign in Ligue 1, L’Equipe named him in their team of the season so far. Once the polemic subsided about Tite prematurely handing Lucas Paqueta the Brazil No 10 shirt for a friendly against Argentina in 2019 — a decision Rivaldo took as a lack of respect for Rivelino, Zico and Ronaldinho — he established himself as a regular. His versatility means he will probably start at the World Cup. “He has the talent to be one of the top players,” Emerson Palmieri told The Athletic earlier this summer. The Euro 2020 winner spent last season on loan at Lyon and will be reunited with Paqueta after joining West Ham from Chelsea. “He’s still young and I believe we have to have patience with him because sometimes youngsters have ups and downs.” The oscillating performances Palmieri touches upon refers to the Lyonnais perception of Paqueta as an absolute joy to watch on his day. But he lacks consistency. Garcia felt he needed to show more killer instinct in his passing rather than playing simple, short and sideways. The team also went backwards in Paqueta’s time, declining from Champions League semi-finalists to no Champions League football at all in back-to-back years. Last season under Peter Bosz was the worst the club has experienced in a quarter of a century. Either the team underperformed or wasn’t as good as people thought. Guimaraes was sold to Newcastle in January to offset some of the lost earnings from missing out on the Champions League and Lyon have gone back to players they can rely on like Alexandre Lacazette and Corentin Tolisso. More substance, less style. Paqueta was ready for a new challenge but the lacklustre showings he put in over the second half of the last campaign also made Lyon open to moving on. Romain Faivre can replace him between the lines and Jeff Reine Adelaide’s return from injury covers Lyon in midfield. A fee of up to €60million from West Ham is frankly too good to turn down and would make Paqueta the club’s most lucrative sale after Tanguy Ndombele. West Ham fans will be hoping they get more bang for their buck than Tottenham did for their record signing who returned to Lyon on loan last season and is now at Napoli. “His quality is there for all to see,” Palmieri said of Paqueta. “He’s a dedicated guy, someone who is obsessed with winning games and competing for titles. He has everything he needs to develop further. I think he has a brilliant future ahead of him.”"

[Mex Martillo]

"My only real complaint is the missed passes. Yesterday we didn't have many opportunities going forward and to see a few break down due to a poor pass from Paqueta was disappointing. I like the fight he has and he's intelligent about it too, breaks them up without getting cards."

[Nick QQQ]

Not sure why people are calling out one player. Not his fault that we paid over the odds for him. There is not one player in this current team who has any kind of form. Pretty fucking clear who is to blame. Players aren’t playing for him

[ted fenton]

chelmsfordhammer 12:22 Tue Dec 27

[chelmsfordhammer]

"Decent managers get the best out of players, for us to have so many players that go backwards under Moyes tells you all you need to know about the manager."

[twoleftfeet]

Could have had Gakpo for £10m cheaper.

[Stevethehammer]

"As I said Manuel I didn't see what Moyes could bring out of him. I honestly think there is a player in there but not under this manager, he clearly has had the flair sucked out of him and its going the same way as Benrahma. Any player in that squad with a bit of flair, attacking intent and the team can carry in terms of the leg work Moyes sucks the footballing skill etc out of them. He hates Benrahma who fails to track back in occasions but yet put him 10 yards further forward and he can make a big difference. Paqueta will be all piss and wind in this team because of the shackles Moyes puts on them. He has reverted to type after coming away from his tried and tested method for the past year with some success. Its gone tits up and he doesn't have any other way of sorting it, so we go into a fucking shell and it becomes dire and boring to watch because the jock cսnt is a dinosaur who has run his course. Players don't become shit overnight, it's drilled out of the them tactically and that's what happening here. Players like Bowen, Benrahma need to play in their natural positions where they can be effective, same as Paqueta, round holes, square pegs manager. He must have absolutely shit himself yesterday at half time, he wouldn't have expected that and whatever he said, clearly didn't fucking work. Sooner he is gone, and a manager who isn't afraid to start going for it with the players we have, the better."

[simon.s]

"pdbis 11:16 Tue Dec 27 Guaranteed. Their football is going backwards, and their value is going down under Moyes. And as much as they are a pair of cunts, it’s a waste of time the owners giving Moyes big money, because he has no idea what to do with it. Moyes skill in the transfer market (if he has any) would be signing someone like the big lump from Blackburn and getting a tune out of him. One thing is for sure, he’ll get next to fuck all from the owners this window."

[Eerie Descent]

"There was a shot he had late on, wasn't that far out, he had a bit of space, on his stronger left foot. When he hit it, I thought I'd been transported back, and it was Faubert having a swing with his left foot. Absolutely horrendous."

[Eerie Descent]

"There was a shot he had late on, wasn't that far out, he had a bit of space, on his stronger left foot. When he hit it, I thought I'd been transported back, and it was Faubert having a swing with his left foot. Absolutely horrendous."

[pdbis]

Both him and Scamacca will be sold at a huge loss- it is the West Ham way.

[dealcanvey]

He may be being played out of position. You can blame Moyes for many things but not when Paqueta loses the ball time and time again. Misplacing pass after pass. 50 million quid! He’s making the Anderson signing look a bargain.

[Manuel]

"Steve - Yep, I remember you saying that and you got absolutely slated for it and was labeled miserable, over negative, etc, so fair play, but strangely you then go on to contradict yourself a little by saying you think he can still come good with the old playing to his strengths line? Many on here were using that excuse for Soucek for a long time until the penny finally dropped that he is in fact absolutely shit, and you no longer hear it. For me he will never make it in the PL, or at least not the mens version anyway, and that should have been scouted before we dropped a 50 on him. Having some flair and the odd trick is nowhere near enough in this league, you need some steel too or you can forget it, even the most talented players have some fight in them, like KDB at City and Salah, Rooney, Gazza, even the most talented of them all Messi was angry and putting it about at the world cup. There's a reason this girls blouse failed in Italy and why none of the big boys here wanted him, can you imagine a Klopp or a Pep suffering him, not to mention his team mates. Another 50 mil down the drain."

[Pentonville]

I too watched him week in week out for Lyon. He is quality and filled in when needed as a number 10 or even an out and out striker which shows his attitude is good. He played usually though in a deeper role and was a tackler/ playmaker. I do not recognise him with his performances for us and put the blame fully at Moyes door. He should be playing in Soucek position end of story and have players with brains ahead of him. Whoever bought him to play with who he is playing with and where he is playing should be shot.

[Stevethehammer]

"Would just like to say I told ya so Everyone was raving about him, I didn't see the correlation between him and Moyes. He is not a Moyes type player and sadly looks like we have done £50 million on him. Only way back for him is if Moyes gets the boot and plays to his strengths, clearly dithering Dave doesnt know his best position."

[Manuel]

"I don't give a hoot who he has played for, he is fucking woeful, I won't be offering the cսnt up any excuses either. Worst of all, he doesn't give a fuck. Do NOT expect this fella to turn it around, it won't happen. we have done our money on him."

[nychammer]

"the club was clearly raped for 50M. We badly need people who know whay they are doing at this club, like at Arsenal FFs. Odegard nearly half his price and 10x more effective"

[Dr Matt]

Give him 3 games alongside Rice in a deeper role. If he’s crap in them - then look to sell in January and see if we can get £20m back.

[Pagey]

"He had an average World Cup for a bang average Brazil team. We’re just desperately trying to see all the positives in him, because we paid so much for him. Which I totally understand. He obviously has qualities, but he’s offering nowhere near enough to warrant his price tag. We’re just dull to watch right now."

[collyrob]

“looked a real player in the WC.“ I thought he looked bang average and was very lucky to stay in that team.

[Full Claret Jacket]

"Clearly a good player there but communication is a problem, motivation doesnt seem that great. Looks the sort of player who cant be arsed unless hes enjoying his football. He clearly isnt enjoying his football for our club."

[Northern Sold]

For me he was the one that was at least looking for a ball to hurt the oppo'... playing with those donkeys Antomio and soucek he must think what the fuck have I done... looked a real player in the WC... looks like a frustrated individual in the EPL... I honestly think the Jock has not got a clue how or where to use him

[Pagey]

"He needs to start showing his worth and quick. Nothing to do with anyone else or which position he’s asked to play in. A decent player will show quality regardless. Right now, he offers hardly anything. We’re proper shit at spending ‘big’ money on anyone."

[Sydney_Iron]

"The new Anderson? Fuck me the more I think about it the more I just laugh! Got rid of Anderson and Haller, almost to replace them with this bloke and Scamacca. One stop forward then 2 steps back. It’s the West Ham way."

[Charoo]

Went straight up the tunnel on final whistle. That’s a big no from me - after an abject performance like that go and appreciate the fans who paid to watch you have a shocker. He’s clearly being played out of position - plus having to play in the middle with Soucek isn’t going to further anyone’s career.

[Stowie.40]

"Awful signing, strolls through games doing fuck all."