Manchester City have submitted an improved verbal offer worth £88 million, which West Ham United are expected to reject.
According to Santi Aouna, Manchester City returned with a new verbal offer for Lucas Paqueta worth £88 million. West Ham are expected to reject the late approach as they could seek more money from Pep Guardiola’s side for their prized asset.
Manchester City’s search for a new midfielder over and above Mateo Kovacic became evident when they made a massive bid for Declan Rice. The idea was to bring in someone capable of entirely replacing Ilkay Gundogan, who left for Barcelona on a free transfer.
While Arsenal successfully pipped them to the Rice signing, Manchester City went quiet on the midfielder front. Instead, they focused on bringing a new defender and recently signed Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig for a fee well under £80 million.
With the new season on the horizon, Pep Guardiola might have felt the need for further reinforcements and that midfielder target emerged in his mind again. Manchester City made a verbal offer worth £70 million for West Ham United’s Lucas Paqueta.
🚨EXCL : 💙🇧🇷 #PL |
◉ Manchester City have submitted second verbal bid for Lucas Paqueta. It’s worth £88m.
◉ West ham doest not accept again and want more. Negotiations are progressing well. Both clubs are confident to close the deal.https://t.co/qROKM14Eur pic.twitter.com/W1U8K4RHDT
— Santi Aouna (@Santi_J_FM) August 10, 2023
The 25-year-old only joined the Hammers for a fee well under £40 million, as per Transfermarkt, although many media outlets had reported a much higher figure. West Ham did not consider him for sale, but they might consider a deal if the price is right.
By that, they could look for a fee similar to what Arsenal paid for Rice earlier in the window. Manchester City have remained in advanced negotiations with the Hammers despite the initial snub of their verbal offer and now have made an improved proposal.
As per Santi Aouna, Manchester City have made a new verbal offer worth £88 million. It’s a tremendous amount of money for the 25-year-old, but West Ham could reject the latest offering. The Hammers could reportedly seek more from Guardiola’s side to let the Brazilian leave.
Whether Manchester City are ready to go higher remains the question, but with two offers on the table, they certainly are serious about Paqueta. The player also reportedly wants the move to happen, as he may want to take advantage of a big career opportunity.
The next few days will become crucial in this deal as Manchester City and West Ham keep the negotiations channels open. Whether the player is realistically worth the sum of money or more remains the big question, but Guardiola seems intent on strengthening his midfield one way or another.
