Pundit Karl Robinson has said that reported Manchester City transfer target, Lucas Paqueta, is highly thought of at West Ham United.
The Manchester club have been linked with a move for the Brazilian over the past week or so.
However, after seeing a verbal offer of £70m turned down by the Hammers, it has since been claimed that City’s move for the 25-year-old is on hold due to them not wanting to pay the east London club’s asking price of over £85m.
With the Citizens now facing the next four months of the season without Kevin De Bruyne in the team due to him picking up a hamstring issue in the 3-0 win over Burnley last week, one pundit has shared his thoughts on the possibility of seeing the treble winners sign the Hammers star.
Robinson says Paqueta is highly rated at West Ham
Speaking in a recent edition of the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, Robinson had this to say about Paqueta in terms of him being a potential replacement for De Bruyne.
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He said “Paqueta could be one. I know people at West Ham speak very highly of him. But does he have that same aura and flamboyance that De Bruyne brings and that sense of assurance?”
Last summer, the east London club secure a club record deal for Paqueta worth £51m and then went on to see him score five goals and deliver seven assists in 39 appearances across the Premier League and the Europa Conference League.
Having then gone on to put in a solid display in West Ham’s opening Premier League game of the new season in their 1-1 draw against Bournemouth, which ultimately earned him an overall match rating of 8/10 from SofaScore, this further highlights how significant he is for David Moyes’ side.
With all of that in mind, it’s no surprise that Robinson has revealed that people at the London Stadium have told him they think very highly of Paqueta.
Moving forward, if City were to walk away from potentially signing the Brazilian, this would be a big shame, especially since they’re going to be without De Bruyne for the next few months.