Manchester City after West Ham midfielder despite rejection
Manchester City remain in active negotiations with West Ham United for the signature of midfielder Lucas Paquetá. The Citizens have already bought Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea in this transfer window but are willing to add at least one more midfielder to their squad.
According to the reports from Fabrizio Romano, Paquetá wants Manchester City only. The negotiations between the Treble winners and West Ham continue for now. The UEFA Europa Conference League winners have rejected City’s bid of £70m. However, the Hammers have told Pep Guardiola that he can include players in the deal. Manchester City don’t want to overpay for Paquetá but could make a second bid soon.
West Ham have already seen a club-record sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal this summer. Manchester City were initially in the running to sign the England International but couldn’t match Arsenal’s bid of £105m. If they manage to sell another player for a hefty fee to the Premier League champions, it will ring alarm bells in the West Ham hierarchy. Until now, David Moyes remains the only Premier League manager yet to land a signing in this window.
There are reported tensions between Moyes and the West Ham hierarchy, and the lack of transfers could be the reason for it. The Hammers are linked with moves for Manchester United pair Scott McTominay and Harry Maguire this summer. However, the negotiations are not advanced yet.
Manchester City have seen the departures of Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez in this window. Although they have replaced Gundogan with Kovacic, they understand the situation around Bernardo Silva. With Silva’s future up in the air, they want to add another midfielder for cover.
