It has now been reported that Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has always been a huge admirer of West Ham United midfielder Lucas Paqueta.
This comes from Fabrizio Romano, after it was claimed on Wednesday that the Brazilian international would be keen on a transfer to City.
Now, it seems like Pep Guardiola too has always been open to seeing Lucas Paqueta in a Manchester City shirt.
Fabrizio Romano: Pep Guardiola has ‘always been a fan’ of Manchester City target Lucas Paqueta
However, the challenge for the Sky Blues could remain getting this deal over the line in the ongoing summer transfer window.
This is due to the fact that it has been claimed that West Ham have rejected the treble-winner’s initial £70 million offer to sign the 25-year-old as their aim remains to bank at least an £85 million fee from his potential sale.
However, Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Pep Guardiola has ‘always been a fan’ of Manchester City-linked attacker Lucas Paqueta, who recently picked Roc Nation Brazil as his agents going forward.
In fact, even in September last year, Romano shed light on Guardiolo being keen on a deal for Paqueta at City as a potential replacement for Barcelona-linked midfielder Bernardo Silva on his Here We Go podcast, saying, “The main option for Man City in case of Bernardo deal with Barcelona was Lucas Paqueta. He was really appreciated by Pep Guardiola, really appreciated by the board. They had some discussions with the agents.”
“Then it was never advanced because Man City are more than happy to keep Bernardo Silva. But Lucas Paqueta was a serious option. He was on Man City list, but then he joined West Ham when he knew with Man City it was 100 per cent over.”
It will be interesting to discover whether the Pep Guardiola is handed his dream signing of Lucas Paqueta or whether Manchester City simply decide not to bow down to West Ham’s lofty demands.
