Lucas Paqueta Reaches Personal Deal With Manchester City

West Ham United player, Lucas Paqueta. (Photo: Instagram/@lucaspaqueta)

JAKARTA - West Ham United midfielder Lucas Paqueta has reportedly agreed to join Manchester City and will sign a six-year contract.

The Brazil international scored five goals and provided seven assists in 41 games for the Hammers in the 2022-2023 season, and led David Moyes' side to win the Europa Conference League.

Despite being under contract for the next four years, Paqueta wants to find new challenges after knowing interest from Manchester City. The Citizens have reportedly made an offer of 70 million (Rp1.3 trillion) which West Ham United rejected earlier this week.

Paqueta is believed to have a release clause of 85 million (Rp1.6 trillion) in its contract. However, the clause cannot be activated by interested clubs until the summer of 2024.

However, according to France Televisions journalist Mohamed Bouhafsi, as reported by sportsmole, the defending Premier League champion has returned with an offer of 73.4 million (Rp1.4 trillion) plus a bonus of 8.6 million (Rp167 billion). Unfortunately, West Ham wants a figure close to 95 million (Rp1.8 trillion without bonuses.

Bouhafsi added that Lucas Paqueta had reached an agreement with Manchester City to sign a six-year contract. This is what makes Pep Guardiola's team optimistic about finalizing the deal given the player's desire to move to the Etihad Stadium.

From West Ham's camp, manager David Moyes has confirmed that his party has accepted an offer from Manchester City for Paqueta, but the offer has not met the club's asking price.

"We have received an offer from Manchester City, but it is not close to our assessment," Moyes said.

Man City manager Pep Guardiola put Paqueta's name on the target cast list following Ilkay Gundogan's departure to Barcelona, and future speculation of Bernardo Silva and young Cole Palmer.

On the other hand, West Ham United are allegedly interested in getting Palmer's signature and reportedly asked for the name of the Manchester City academy dropout as part of Lucas Paqueta's transfer.