West Ham United are bracing themselves for another bid from Manchester City for Brazilian attacking midfielder Lucas Paqueta in the coming days.
Pep Guardiola clearly wants the player at City before the transfer window shuts and is expected to make another proposal to West Ham after their initial £70m bid was rejected by the Hammers.
Hammers boss David Moyes won't want to see him leave, yet he is already turning his head to potential replacements for the player who only arrived in the Premier League last summer.
Will West Ham United make more signings?
Edson Alvarez and James Ward Prowse are the only arrivals at the club so far and with European football gracing the London Stadium for the third consecutive year, Moyes will need to pad out his squad.
According to The Independent, West Ham, along with City and Tottenham Hotspur are chasing Jeremy Doku and the club already have put an offer in for the Belgian.
It is also claimed that whoever doesn’t secure a move for the current Rennes winger will instead turn to making a move for Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze.
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The £30k-per-week gem is obviously doing enough to be attracting interest from teams like these and although Palace are trying to tie him down to an extended deal, Moyes could swoop in and give him a platform of European football this season to showcase his talents on.
How good is Eberechi Eze?
Paqueta was one of the shining lights for West Ham last term in what was a poor season, domestically anyway.
The Brazilian finished 2022/23 ranking second with regard to overall Sofascore rating (6.95) and he also ranked in the top five across the squad for goals and assists (five), key passes per game (1.1) and successful dribbles per game (1.2), suggesting that he offered a reliable attacking threat.
Eze was also one of Palace’s better performers during a rather underwhelming Premier League campaign.
The English maestro ranked second in terms of rating (7.12) while topping the pile for goals and assists (14) before dropping to second across the squad for key passes (1.5) and successful dribbles (1.9) per game.
These statistics prove that Eze could be an ideal heir to Paqueta should he move to West Ham, and he would be able to shine occupying an attacking midfield berth.
Indeed, the 25-year-old even registered more shots on target per 90 (0.85 v 0.58), shot-creating actions per 90 (4.03 v 3.43), carries into the opposition penalty area (28 v eight) and a higher percentage of successful take-ons (58.2% v 51.5%) clearing proving to be a much greater attacking threat than the current West Ham gem.
Eze was even heralded as a “magician” by Sky Sports pundit Micah Richards back in 2021, and it’s evident that he has vastly improved over the previous 12 months.
Moyes could secure a wonderful talent that is clearly ready to take the next step and display his incredible talents on the continent.
Should Paqueta leave east London in the next two weeks, the Palace sensation must be the player Moyes signs to replace him.
