Manchester City have seen an £88m offer for Brazilian midfielder Lucas Paqueta rejected by West Ham United, with David Moyes’ side thought to be holding out for £95m to let their star leave on the eve of the new season.
The Hammers have already sold Declan Rice to title hopefuls Arsenal for a British record fee of £105m this summer, but have been rocked by the news that Lucas Paqueta also wants to leave the club despite only joining the east Londoners 12 months ago.
After an impressive campaign on a personal note which ended in European success, Paqueta has caught the eye of Manchester City as they look to plan for life after Ilkay Gundogan. Though they have already recruited Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea for £25m, they are keen to add further reinforcements centrally as they aim to follow up their historic treble winning season.
Paqueta is understood to have a release clause in his contract, set at £85m, that comes into effect next summer. However, he is pushing to complete a move this summer amid interest from the Premier League champions.
It won’t be easy though, and as per Foot Mercato City have already seen a massive bid turned down. They claim that Guardiola’s side offered £88m to sign the Brazilian, but that David Moyes and co. are holding out for £95m to part ways with their star.
West Ham take on Bournemouth on the opening weekend of the season, and it remains to be seen whether Paqueta will form part of the side Moyes takes to the south coast should speculation about his future persist.
They also have an interest in Manchester City winger Cole Palmer, who scored in the Community Shield defeat to Arsenal. However, that deal is yet to be explored and it is unclear whether it would be linked to any move for Paqueta.
