West Ham United star Lucas Paqueta is currently going through a spot-fixing trial in relation to potential breaches of betting rules.
Lucas Paqueta joined West Ham in the summer of 2022 from Lyon, but 12 months later his world was turned upside down.
In the summer of 2023, the Brazil international was accused of purposely picking up yellow cards during Premier League games on four separate occasions.
It has since been claimed that the West Ham owners fear Lucas Paqueta could receive a lifetime ban if he’s proven guilty of the charges he faces.
The FA have been like a dog with a bone ever since then, and his actual trial began on Monday March 17th.
It didn’t help matters when West Ham star Lucas Paqueta failed to hand over his phone to the FA for a second time, because had already disposed of it.
And now we will all find out very soon whether or not Paqueta has any kind of future in the game.
A stunning series of new revelations has just been made about the Hammers star that really don’t paint a good picture at all.
New Lucas Paqueta claim after revelations from insiders
Paqueta’s future in the game is far from certain right now.
And there is a genuine chance that we may never see him in a Hammers shirt ever again.
Now The Daily Mail have made a series of new claims about Paqueta.
They begin their piece with the sub-heading, “Lucas Paqueta is on the brink of never playing again – but after the revelations I’ve been told by insiders, here’s why you shouldn’t get your violin out yet.“
The Mail’s Riath Al-Samarrai goes on to share how Paqueta acted when he was first told about the FA’s investigation into his potential betting breaches.
“There was apparently no panic from the player or much of any emotion at all.“
That obviously means nothing in all fairness. All human beings are unique, and we react to incidents and situations in different ways.
It was then suggested by Al-Samarrai that Paqueta’s mood significantly dropped after his failed move to Man City:
“Paqueta’s mood turned when the collapse of that interest from Man City merged with ever-louder headlines from Brazil, where scrutiny around the case was growing.“
‘Sulking Lucas Paqueta’ an enigma at West Ham
The Brazilian is said to have, “sulked away from one of David Moyes’s training sessions in those early weeks of the investigation and then refused to go on a school visit.“
The Mail journalist then suggested that there is most probably no smoke without fire. The FA surely wouldn’t have wasted two years trying to nail Paqueta without being armed with some solid evidence:
“We can’t be certain about the strands of evidence on which the FA have built their case, but we can be confident they haven’t spent the last two years finger-painting.“
That all sounds rather bleak for the 27-year-old former Lyon star doesn’t it.
The annoying thing for Paqueta is that because it’s a civil case that he’s facing, the burden of proof is lower than it would be in a criminal trial.
The bottom line is that the FA are clearly determined to make an example of the Brazilian.
We will find out one way or another very soon whether or not Lucas Paqueta will ever play again for West Ham.
And whatever happens, I will choose to remember the good times. His through-ball to Jarrod Bowen in the 2023 Europa Conference League final was worth the £51 million transfer fee that the Hammers paid for him alone.
Hopefully he will get the chance to make many more memories with West Ham.
