Lyon have rejected West Ham’s £33.75m bid for Lucas Paqueta, according to Sky Sports.
The Brazil international has been a target for Arsenal this summer but the Hammers have emerged as favourites to secure his signature after launching a surprise move on Wednesday.
The midfielder’s agents are reportedly in London hoping to conclude with a Premier League club before the transfer window closes next week but it seems the Hammers will need to go back with an improved offer if Lyon are to sanction Paqueta’s exit.
Meanwhile, transfer expert Dean Jones has told GiveMeSport that he believes West Ham are in pole position to get a deal concluded and that it’s a transaction that could happen pretty quickly.
He said: “This one could move quite quickly. As it stands, it seems like West Ham are going to make another offer for Paqueta and they’re in a good position here because they’re the only club in live talks over the player.
“He’s obviously been rumoured to be joining other clubs but if anyone else comes in they’re going to have to play catch up at this point because West Ham are already quite far down the line.
“At the moment, I would say they will win the race, but we’ve seen this before. West Ham struggle to achieve the valuation that other clubs have on players, so let’s see whether this one ends up going that way too.”
Paqueta is generally a number 10 but is capable of playing in a deeper midfield role, as well as a false nine.
Having missed out on Jesse Lingard to Nottingham Forest earlier in the summer, Moyes perhaps sees the Brazilian as the ideal alternative to add much-needed quality and creativity to his attack.
With 35 goal contributions in 80 first-team appearances for Lyon, he’s certainly more than capable of providing that in Moyes’ team, but it remains to be seen whether Lyon will be willing to accept the Hammers’ next offer if they do indeed go back in with an improved bid.
