Paqueta deal close, claims Flamengo´s president

Lucas Paqueta’s proposed transfer from West Ham to Flamengo is near completion, so says the Brazilian membership’s president.

Paqueta, who joined West Ham from Lyon in 2022, desires to maneuver again to his boyhood membership, and has already reportedly agreed private phrases with Flamengo, the reigning Copa Libertadores champions.

The playmaker has not been concerned in West Ham’s final three matches, with reviews rising over the weekend {that a} payment of $48.9m (£35.8m) had been agreed for his switch.

Flamengo’s president Luiz Eduardo Baptista has now confirmed a deal is shut, although a cost schedule must be agreed on.

“What I can say is that we’re shut,” Baptista mentioned, as reported by ESPN.

“We reached an settlement on a number of features, which I contemplate a very powerful. The distinction is the cost technique we’ll use.

“I’m focusing all my vitality on resolving this [payment method] impediment.

“If it [the deal] may be performed throughout the subsequent hour, nice, if not, let or not it’s in two or three hours. We’re in touch each hour to regulate one factor or one other.

“However I can’t say precisely how lengthy this may take. There’s at all times the opposite aspect, West Ham’s wants.

“However let’s be clear: this can be a transaction by no means earlier than performed in South America, and we extremely worth our phrase and the commitments we make.”

Paqueta has featured 110 occasions for the Hammers, making 103 begins, and helped them win the Convention League in 2023.

The Brazil worldwide has registered 26 aim involvements for the membership (16 objectives, 10 assists).

Paqueta has scored 4 Premier League objectives and offered one help within the competitors this time period, with West Ham sitting 18th, 5 factors again from security.