Paris Saint-Germain want to sign West Ham United star Lucas Paqueta for their midfield, with the position a priority. French champions have not abandoned their chase for the Brazil playmaker despite Manchester City’s interest. The player’s preference would be a move to the Etihad, and a deal is expected to happen this summer, but PSG have prioritised a new midfielder for the upcoming transfer window and Paqueta fits the bill. PSG has not abandoned the Lucas Paqueta track but the club is aware of the difficulty,” he wrote. The midfielder still dreams of joining [Manchester] City. Internally, they are aware of the need to find a strong man in midfield. This will be a priority of the Parisian transfer window. PSG move would be preferable for West Ham UnitedWest Ham will have very little say in what happens with Paqueta this summer, because his £85m release clause becomes active in June and if someone pays up then that is that. So the amount of interested parties means little as a bidding war can’t be started like it did with Declan Rice last summer, but in an ideal world a move back to France would be best for Paqueta and the Hammers. We saw with Rice this season how a top player who stays in the league and goes to another club can hurt, with Rice scoring and dominating in Arsenal’s embarrassing 6-0 win at the London Stadium earlier in the campaign. So a more attacking player like Paqueta could do some real damage to the side next year if he ends up at Manchester City, whereas a move to Paris means they wouldn’t have to see him again. Ultimately so long as the club get the full £85m for him then it won’t matter too much, but if they could pick his destination then it would be anywhere but the Premier League.
