Brazil has been very well represented at Newcastle by Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton, who believe there’s still room for another Brazilian on the squad. In an interview with That’s Football, both players named West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta as their dream signing for the Magpies.
“Another Brazilian here? For me, I played with him in Lyon, I would say Lucas Paqueta. He is one of my best friends. I like him, so I would say him,” Guimaraes said on the show, as quoted by Sport Bible. Joelinton agreed, though he also mentioned Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Junior: “Paqueta or Vinicius Jr, he’s a lovely guy as well.”
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Lucas Paqueta out with injury
While the mere idea of Paqueta playing next to his fellow countrymen at St. James’ Park is thrilling, that won’t be possible at least until next summer. The 26-year-old is expected to spend up to two months on the sidelines due to a calf injury, so Newcastle will prefer to look at other targets in the winter transfer window.
However, even if he was healthy, the Magpies would still find it difficult to take Paqueta out of West Ham. The Hammers forked out €42.95 million to sign him from Lyon in August 2022, and they’re extremely happy with the way he settled in the Premier League. Therefore, they’ll probably ask for a king’s ransom to even consider the idea of a transfer.
