Earlier today, Ligue 1 announced their nominees for the Player of the Season award, where a target for Arsenal and Newcastle was named.
What’s the story?
Well, Lucas Paqueta – who has shone for Lyon this season – found himself alongside the likes of Kylian Mbappe in the list of nominees.
It comes after Newcastle submitted a £34m bid for the Brazil international, whereas Arsenal are also said to be keen on signing the South American.
Dimitri Payet, Wissam Ben Yedder and Martin Terrier have also been nominated for the award.
Interestingly, Lionel Messi and Neymar are nowhere to be seen, which suggests Paqueta is performing at a level beyond the pair as things stand.
So far this season, the 24-year-old has scored ten goals in all competitions, while also providing seven assists.
It will be a tough ask to win the award, however, as Mbappe has remarkably scored 35 goals in all competitions.
Newcastle will beat Arsenal to Lucas Paqueta
In our view, Newcastle will beat Arsenal to the signing of Paqueta, purely due to the presence of Bruno Guimaraes at St James’ Park.
The pair became good friends at Lyon, and still keep in touch following Bruno’s £40m move to the Premier League in January.
Interestingly, Paqueta even claimed he went to St Mary’s to watch his pal in action for the Magpies against Southampton, where he scored a backheeled volley to secure a 2-1 win.
Bruno has even urged Newcastle to reunite him with his fellow Brazilian, so there’s a very good chance that another bid goes in this summer.
Of course, if Arsenal qualify for a place in the Champions League, that could make things difficult for Eddie Howe and the Magpies.
However, if Mikel Arteta fail to do so, then we’d be very surprised to see Paqueta go anywhere other than Tyneside this summer – if he does leave France that is.
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