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.”"

[Manuel]

Well hopefully he will be doing a bit more than dancing on Saturday for our 50 mil. If he's rubbish again I suppose it will be Moyes's fault!

[ironsofcanada]

Watching him dance with Neymar and co. after the goals is a bit surreal.

[ironsofcanada]

"Played a half wide-ish left for Brazil in a 5-1 win over Tunisia in Paris. Had a couple medium range shots that he missed after creating space for himself. Was involved in the build up, passing out of traffic, in one of the goals before being subbed at half."

[factory seconds]

"does seem odd that we spent £60m to reinforce the position that we were most stacked in. lanzini is a 10 but has to play as a central midifielder to get a game. benrahma is a 10 but has to play as a winger to get a game, fornals is a 10 but has to be as james milner style utility lumper at wingback to get a game, vlasic is a 10 but wasn't allowed on the pitch unless we were playing some latvian farmers and has now been fucked off to italy. now we have another 10 who comes with world class pedigree but yet he's performing very similarly to all of the above. it's almost like it wasn't any of their problem and playing in a rigid, dogmatic and predictable system stifles creatively expressive players. moyes probably still thinks lingard was the answer, despite him not even getting into forest's first XI these days."

[Hammer Oz]

"Watching the game (like others), you could see all the time we get the ball and no fucker up front to pass to. That way we slow down and the oppo get back as well, no the players fault. How the fuck Samacca hasn't started is beyond a fucking joke Oh yep, Ive got an idea. Lets not look like scoring then do a headless chicken routine in the last 20.........."

[Barty]

He will come good

[Hammer and Pickle]

"Problem is, he’s clearly been instructed to keep his dribble in the locker and the players around him to avoid making the space ahead of him to go into. It’s actually painful to watch."

[zico]

"To be fair I don't remember too many big clubs sniffing around Payet, although a year and a half later might have proved why! I was hoping that he might have a dribble in him, a talent to beat a player (like Payet) but hasn't shown a great deal as yet. Early days though so can't knock him yet."

[Come On You Irons]

"And when he left them they were beaten Europa League Quarter Finalists with him having played in a 0-3 home defeat to a Moyes led West Ham. What does that tell you?! They also finished 8th i. Ligue 1 last season. As I said, a bang average team in a bang average league. If PSG really wanted him do you think West Ham would have had a cat in hells chance of signing him? He is a dud signing and massive waste of money. End of."

[Nagel]

"""There is clearly a reason why no elite club was sniffing around him and he was plying his trade at an average club"" It's well known that PSG were sniffing around him all summer. As for Lyon being an average club, when he joined them they'd just been Champions League semi-finalists!"

[Sven Roeder]

"Pacqueta is not immune from criticism and needs to lift his rating but you do wonder if Moyes is at home with creative players and how to get the best out of them. His Everton was all about scrappers like Leon Osman & the likes of Tim Cahill & Fellaini & probably Lee Cattermole was his captain at Sunderland. I dont believe Anderson, Haller & Vlasic were all abysmal players but he seemed to not be able to integrate them at all. The players have to take a fair amount of the responsibility of course as well but even with the extra investment we seem to have got worse & the existing players deteriorated. Thats got to be concerning for anybody"

[13 Brentford Rd]

"When you're instructed by the manager to only try and score a goal between the 45th & 60th minute and spend the rest of the game trying not to concede a goal it must be pretty difficult to show your ability. Anderson, Benrahma, Vlassic and now Paqueta. Haller & Scamacca. Moyes is the common denominator, that's why he needs to go!"

[master]

"If Potter can teach Dunk and Webster to become ball playing centre halves and look good at it, then our players who start from a much higher level, including this fella, must be getting some damn shit coached into them to make them look that bad."

[dealcanvey]

He joins the long list with our other attacking midfielders (and Soucek) who struggle to retain possession in basic scenarios. Absolutely no chance of us creating anything when we can’t keep the ball.

[Willtell]

Come On You Irons 12:46 Yes but having paid £50m for him we have to get him up to speed. Same as Scamacca. And Downes. Emerson hasn't done much either. Kehrer keeps giving away pens or goals. Aguerd got injured making a recovering tackle on a forward his lack of control put clear on goal. Cornet seems dead unlucky... Hmmm!

[13 Brentford Rd]

Add Anderson at 37.5m and sold for 2m to that net spend. It's not the players themselves it's Moyes!

[Dr Matt]

The errors are so simple and basic you’d question if Dan Chesters would be making them. Vlasic out and Paqueta in with a total net spend of £65m (£15m loss on Vlasic and £50m on Paqueta) is without doubt the worst piece of transfer business ever undertaken by any club ever. Makes Paul Pogba’s £80m and Maguire’s £85m look wise!

[Come On You Irons]

"So we're all agreed then. £50 million man Paqueta gets a pass for being dispossessed numerous times each match, creating fuck all chances, having zero goals and assists to his name this season and being bombed out by AC Milan for inadequacy all because his new coach is Moyes and he gets in a weak Brazil midfield. Absolutely pathetic. There is clearly a reason why no elite club was sniffing around him and he was plying his trade at an average club in an average league before we spunked so much dough on him. Awful signing."

[cambsiron]

Respect to him for his willingness to track back. Clearly his fitness and attitude aren't in question at this point. Let's hope his misplaced simple passes are down to nerves and his repeated loss of possession just requires him to become more aware of the rigours of the Premier League.

[Takashi Miike]

"""Everyone is static, nobody is moving or giving an option to pass to so we either hit it long, dwell on if and lose it"" spot on"

[Full Claret Jacket]

"master 12:02 Mon Sep 19 100% this. I was shouting about it watching the game. Everyone is static, nobody is moving or giving an option to pass to so we either hit it long, dwell on if and lose it or play a risky pass and lose it. Absolute statues on the pitch. Nobody will risk leaving their position. This guy plays well with Neymar for Brazil because of his movement and that their quick interchanges create space."

[Full Claret Jacket]

"master 12:02 Mon Sep 19 100% this. I was shouting about it watching the game. Everyone is static, nobody is moving or giving an option to pass to so we either hit it long, dwell on if and lose it or play a risky pass and lose it. Absolute statues on the pitch. Nobody will risk leaving their position. This guy plays well with Neymar for Brazil because of his movement and that their quick interchanges create space."

[master]

"Has Moyes ever successfully coached a player like this? Once this guy receives the ball, players are meant to run AWAY from him so he can play passes. I doubt that's the coaching message from Moyes as we literally either stand still or run towards the guy with the ball (only Cornet seems to run away and in behind, hence dropped) compressing all the available space. It's absolutely not fair to judge this guy yet with this coach. Even Vlasic, who is not PL quality at all, still appears a better player than Moyes was able to make him look. Moyes tells these kinds of players to play safety first balls and get rid of it as soon as they can."

[Full Claret Jacket]

Doesn't look comfortable with what he is being asked to do. In truth he looks lost. Not sure whether to track back or hold for the break away opportunity. Language barrier I also think is a problem. He clearly has a good pass and isn't afraid to get stuck in. The quality is there. It must be hard for him to settle into a new country and club which is struggling and unhappy. I doubt he thought we would be this bad. Expect guys like him to have release clauses if we don't get European football. We look miles away from it.

[Norflundon]

Have to admit he’s starting to look a bit Anderson like Benrahama did more in 20 mins yesterday than Paqueta has done since he joined Yes he has some nice touches but I haven’t seen a single thing from him to say he is going to be a top premier league player no goals no assists don’t even remember him creating a single chance and if we factor in the shit we’ve played in Europe and he still hasn’t shone very worrying performances Yes you need to give him time but he’s played quite a few games now and let’s be honest he’s been shit in all of them