West Ham United have signed Lucas Paqueta, confirming his arrival from Lyon amid strange claims of a potential hijack attempt.
The Hammers have been chasing new signings of late and recently snapped up Chelsea left back Emerson Palmieri.
David Moyes has remained in the hunt for new additions and he has now pulled off a frankly huge deal for West Ham.
West Ham United have signed Lucas Paqueta
Reports emerged last week suggesting that West Ham were making a real push to sign Lyon playmaker Lucas Paqueta.
A £51million deal was eventually agreed and Paqueta underwent a medical on Sunday ahead of joining West Ham.
Having beaten Aston Villa 1-0 on Sunday, West Ham have now confirmed their new signing with Paqueta arriving at the London Stadium.
West Ham have confirmed that the deal is a club-record fee whilst describing Paqueta as an ‘outstanding talent’.
Paqueta has signed a five-year deal with the option of another year, leaving David Moyes absolutely delighted.
It’s also great for West Ham to get this deal tied up tonight given some strange claims from Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas.
Aulas told beIN Sports that it’s ‘unfortunate’ that Paqueta is leaving and that Lyon had to accept West Ham’s move because no bigger clubs made offers.
Yet Aulas then suggested that another English club – one that he wouldn’t name – wanted to make a move at the last minute, hinting that Paqueta’s destination could change tomorrow morning.
There have been fears that Tottenham Hotspur would swoop in with a move for Paqueta given that Fabio Paratici is understood to be a big fan of the Brazilian and a hijack wasn’t ruled out last week.
Whether Aulas was just trying to extract more money out of West Ham or whether there really was a hijack in the offing, the Hammers have landed their man.
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