West Ham beat Chelsea to Lucas Paqueta transfer despite Thiago Silva’s request
Chelsea defender Thiago Silva has revealed that he asked the club's board to look into signing Lucas Paqueta before he joined West Ham.
The 25-year-old Brazilian was the subject of interest from a host of Premier League clubs during the summer transfer window before deciding on a move to the Hammers. David Moyes' side paid a club record £51.3million to bring the midfielder to the London Stadium, seeing off interest from rivals including Newcastle.
Chelsea never really appeared in the running for Paqueta, but that didn't stop Silva speaking to the Blues hierarchy about trying to get him through the door at Stamford Bridge.
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"I heard he was about to leave Lyon [so I] had some conversations here with some people, but unfortunately things didn’t work out," he told ESPN Brazil. "We weren’t 100% sure he would leave Lyon.
"The last week arrived, this thing got a lot [clearer] and we had some other priorities because of the injuries we have in the team. So we needed a striker, another defender. A midfielder, was a little less. I think that’s why things didn’t evolve well.
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"But I’m happy for Paqueta because West Ham certainly have a very good structure, it’s a great club in the Premier League scene."
Paqueta came on as a second half substitute against Tottenham on Wednesday night and perhaps should have given the Hammers all three points after squandering a chance late on. He also picked up a booking for his troubles as the east Londoners earned a valuable point in a 1-1 draw.
Ironically for Silva, Paqueta now could make his full West Ham debut against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, prompting the veteran ace to add: "I just hope he can be sad on Saturday. After that he can stay happy and get to the World Cup the way he knows, the way he’s been doing, which is playing good football."
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