""The FA is clearly aggravated with the results so every time there's a foul called against him or a yellow card drawn, he is thinking the worst." "Source familiar with FA proceedings
Lucas Paquetá arrived in Europe in 2019 with big expectations. He was following a long line of Brazilian legends to one of the biggest teams in Italy and through all the biggest football leagues. AC Milan believed they were getting the next Kaká. Under coach Gennaro Gattuso (the current Italian Men's National Team coach), he was welcomed with open arms and in an offense designed for his skill set. It didn't work out. Gattuso was fired. The team would enter a rebuilding effort and 2 coaches later, he was out of the rotation and exiled to the bench until he was sent to Lyon just 18 months into his time in Italy.
For most young players, being dumped by their first major club could have had a lasting effect. Paquetá's mental fortitude kicked in. He moved on to Lyon in France's Ligue One and rebuilt his career and reputation. Not only did he prove to the world that he was the player they all thought he was, but he also became a leader. The Brazilian midfielder even predicted a rebirth of sorts when he said, "I will come back stronger than ever." In a Europa League match-up versus West Ham, former manager David Moyes was so impressed with him, he told team owner David Sullivan, the team should keep an eye on him.
With a month to go in the 2022 summer transfer window, Moyes had tried to lure former loanee Jesse Lingard into a permanent transfer and couldn't get it done. Moyes, was disappointed they couldn't get his primary target, and then he remembered. At the time, West Ham paid Lyon a record fee for Paquetá. It still remains the most they've ever paid for a player. It was well worth it. Just a few months later, his pass to Jarrod Bowen would clinch West Ham their first-ever European title. It meant he and Bowen would forever be linked and that he would go on to be immortalized.
Then came the betting scandal, and all that mental fortitude and toughness melted away. "It can be a number of things," says sports psychologist Pippa Grange. "Athletes put a lot of pressure on themselves to perform; there's a lot at stake. But I can understand how he feels playing under his current conditions how he may feel walled in."
As we've reported here before on Fansided and GSH, Paquetá believes he is a player with a target on his back. "It's hard to convince someone that after a 2-year investigation where he was found innocent, that there isn't any bitterness," said a source who is familiar with England's Football Association proceedings with Paquetá. "The FA is clearly aggravated with the results so every time there's a foul called against him or a yellow card drawn, he is thinking the worst."
According to the source, the feeling overwhelms him. It's making getting on the pitch in England debilitating for him. "He told the fans he'd give it one more year because of the love he received and the support he has from West Ham, but he just wants to go home," says the source. "With each window that passes, he knows he's just one possible call away from doing that."
As the first week of January's transfer window was winding down, his home club in Brazil, Flamengo, submitted an offer of 35 million pounds for Paquetá, which was immediately shut down. No one heard about it, no one was told that it happened, but now Flamengo are attempting to go further. Only West Ham has told everyone that his value needs to be met, and they desperately need him for the rest of the season to avoid relegation. According to sources, Paquetá was overwhelmed with anxiety after hearing about the offer, and he went to manager Nuno Espírito Santo and asked out of the FA Cup tournament match against Queens Park Rangers.
Nuno is currently working with him to get his mind back into helping the team until there is a permenant solution. On the surface, it looks like Paquetá wants to abandon a sinking ship, but it goes beyond that. We've already seen him have multiple mental breakdowns on the pitch. This isn't coming from nowhere. We know he's suffering. This isn't part of his traits. He's been through ups and downs before, but this is different. He wants out of the Premier League and if that can happen now, for the first time, he's forcing the team's hand to do so.
It is believed Sullivan and the board would approve a deal to Flamengo for 45 million pounds. They are willing to give Paquetá's preferred team a discount, but any other team would have to come to at least 55 million euros. Any team in the Premier League is out. The Brazilian international doesn't want to stay in this league, and Sullivan doesn't want the player to come back to haunt him.
Whatever happens next will be heavily influenced by the conversations he has with Nuno. Unless West Ham get their asking price don't expect them to put pressure on their manager to let them go. They want Nuno to have everything he needs to avoid relegation.
On Sunday morning, West Ham released an open letter to West Ham fans written by captain Jarrod Bowen. In it, he blamed himself for not playing at the level fans were used to. He said he needed to be better and that he and his fellow teammates are going to find ways to come together and never give up on each other. Most fans were waking up reading that letter, while Bowen's teammate was texting his manager that he "wasn't ready to play." Paquetá did not want to risk possible injury after a knock he received last week against Nottingham Forest.
What we are seeing so far this season is a lack of consistency. Fans are also wondering why the team seems flat or how they look defeated after allowing a goal. That body language comes all too often. It's the feeling of a chain link that ties a team to each other, but now the link has broken because a player doesn't want to play with their teammates anymore. When any player wants to quit on the team for any reason, it allows the others to think the same. Without realizing it, Paquetá has fractured this team.
If you can't stay and battle for the person next to you, then you shouldn't be on a team. He has to decide if he can let it go, or the team needs to make that decision for him.