West Ham United boss David Moyes believes Lucas Paqueta is teasing an ‘individual talent’ like Dimitri Payet. But the Scot wants to avoid putting any pressure on his summer signing.
Paqueta moved to the London Stadium from Ligue 1 side Lyon late this August for an initial £36.5m. The Brazilian’s switch may end up costing the Hammers a club-record £52.5m fee after potential add-ons. He only cost Les Gones £17m when joining from AC Milan in 2020.
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The 25-year-old showed great promise over his time in France with 21 goals and 13 assists from 80 games. Paqueta needed seven appearances to open his Irons account for assists. He penned a first goal involvement in claret-and-blue to beat Anderlecht 1-0 on Thursday.
Moyes brought Paqueta off the bench at Lotto Park during the Europa League group stage tie in midweek. West Ham had failed to break down the Anderlecht backline, but Paqueta picked out £30.5m summer signing Gianluca Scamacca to open the scoring on 79 minutes.
Yet Paqueta’s most eye-catching moment of the night stunned Aaron Cresswell and Tomas Soucek. TV cameras captured the two substitutes’ awe as the 34-cap playmaker brought a long ball under control in mid-air after bringing his favoured left foot behind his right leg.
David Moyes feels Lucas Paqueta has ‘an individual talent’ like Dimitri Payet
Paqueta’s silky touch stunned Moyes, too, and showed why the West Ham boss sought out his transfer. But while the Irons coach also feels Paqueta is now showing a talent like Payet offered in claret-and-blue, Moyes is desperate to avoid putting extra expectations on him.
“We are seeing someone who is talented and a different sort of player [to what] we have had at the club for a long time,” Moyes said, via quotes by football.london. “I don’t want to put any pressure on him, but maybe Dimitri Payet was the last one.
“Every West Ham supporter I speak to always talks of Payet, what he brought to the club. Paqueta has an individual talent like that, which is different to what we have got.
“We have tried to add value to the team by what sort of players and add something. I am hoping Lucas can do that, but I also want him to score goals, make goals and help my play be better. I saw his bit of skill, and it was excellent.”
Payet spent 18 months at West Ham between joining from Marseille in July 2015 and later returning to the Stade Velodrome in January 2017. Through his time in claret-and-blue, the 38-cap France maestro offered 15 goals and 23 assists over 60 games in all competitions.
The 35-year-old struck nine of his goals and 12 assists during his first season in the Premier League. Payet laid on his first English top-flight assist on his debut to help beat Arsenal 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium. He hit his first goal in his second outing at home to Leicester City.
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