West Ham have reached a verbal agreement with Lyon to sign Lucas Paquetá after days of negotiations. Personal terms have also been verbally agreed and a deal is now in its final stages.
Paquetá, an attacking midfielder who has 33 Brazil caps, is keen to play in the Premier League. West Ham’s talks with Lyon have been complicated but have reached a point where documents can be exchanged with a view to concluding a transfer.
David Moyes confirmed West Ham’s interest in Paquetá on Wednesday and said the club had been trying to get “really top players”. Paquetá was one of the Brazilians picked out by their manager, Tite, as playing a “high level” in a June interview with the Guardian in which he looked ahead to the World Cup.
Paquetá, who will be 25 on Saturday, is in line to become West Ham’s eighth summer signing for the senior squad. He joined Lyon in 2020 from Milan and was previously with Flamengo.
West Ham are also in contact with Adnan Januzaj, a free agent after leaving Real Sociedad. Moyes first worked with the Belgian winger at Manchester United and took him on loan at Sunderland in 2016-17.
West Ham were drawn on Friday in a Conference League group with the Romanian club FCSB, Anderlecht and Silkeborg of Denmark. Moyes’s team are bottom of the Premier League after three defeats in their opening three matches.
