While West Ham’s season has had its ups and downs, there are signs of steady progress under Graham Potter that shouldn’t be overlooked. They face the task of keeping hold of key players ahead of the new managers’ first summer window at the club.
We spoke to James Jones of LondonWorld to get his take on the Hammers’ direction and what’s expected ahead of the summer.
We spoke to James Jones of LondonWorld to get his take on the Hammers’ direction and what’s expected ahead of the summer.
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00:00Now, West Ham have had their ups and downs this season,
00:05but one constant source of excitement has been Lucas Paqueta.
00:09The Brazilian midfielder has shown flashes of his world-class brilliance,
00:13the kind that gets fans firing off their seats and opposition players chasing shadows.
00:19I spoke to London World's James Jones about Paqueta's recent performances,
00:24and he clearly pointed out there are moments when you watch him
00:26and think this guy could play for any team in the world.
00:30Paqueta's flair and unpredictability have been crucial for the Hammers,
00:34especially in tight games where a moment of magic can swing the momentum.
00:38James highlighted how important it is for West Ham to build around him this summer
00:43due to his uncertain future at the club.
00:46While consistency is still a work in progress, the signs are clear.
00:50Paqueta is more than just a luxury player.
00:52He's a match winner, a difference maker,
00:54and someone West Ham should be looking to keep at the centre of their project.
01:00Yeah, and just on Lucas Paqueta, I mean, obviously,
01:05he's maybe not shown his out-and-out best this season for West Ham,
01:09but the performance away at Liverpool, he was, you know,
01:12fairly remarkable, even Arnie Schlotz said after the game,
01:14how, you know, he's come over from Dutch football
01:17and he's realised how tough the Premier League is
01:19because, you know, teams, Linguish,
01:21around the bottom half of the table,
01:23have these superstars still within their ranks.
01:26I mean, it's a big compliment from the manager
01:29who's going to go on to win the Premier League title.
01:32Just how important is Paqueta when he is at his best?
01:35And, you know, it's obviously not been shown as much
01:37as it could have been this season,
01:39but surely he's a player that they really want to make sure
01:42they keep in the summer
01:43and can take West Ham forward next season.
01:47Yeah, well, obviously, Lucas Paqueta's future
01:49is still a little bit up in the air.
01:51There are a lot of question marks
01:52over what's going to happen
01:54with Lucas Paqueta off the pitch.
01:57His case with the FA has been adjourned
01:59until the end of the season,
02:00so we don't really know.
02:03If it comes out positively,
02:05then the club will no doubt be looking,
02:07ideally, be hoping to keep him.
02:09It's clear that Graham Potter likes him
02:12and he enjoys playing under Graham Potter.
02:14You know, he's played his best football
02:16since Graham Potter came into the team.
02:18And his best performance this season
02:20was arguably against Liverpool at Anfield last weekend,
02:22where particularly in the second half,
02:23he ran the show.
02:25And yes, people, you know,
02:28many were pointing at his attempts
02:30to try and buy a free kick
02:31in the build-up to,
02:33in the lead-up to Liverpool's corner
02:34that got them the winner.
02:36But that's Paqueta.
02:37He does things like that.
02:38We know he's done that
02:39for the last three years.
02:40He has moments like that
02:41where he tries to do something a bit silly
02:44or try and win a free kick.
02:45But 90% of the time,
02:48when he's on his day,
02:49he's one of the best players on the pitch.
02:51You know, he is,
02:52there's a reason why Manchester City
02:53wanted to pay £85 million for him
02:55before everything came out
02:56about his spot-fixing allegations.
02:59So he is a very, very important player
03:01for West Ham,
03:02a very important player for Graham Potter.
03:04And if we can keep him
03:05in that kind of form
03:06that we saw against Liverpool
03:07for the rest of the season,
03:08then it'll be a huge boost for us
03:10as we try and pick up
03:11as many points as possible,
03:12just to take a little bit of good feeling
03:14and a little bit of good positivity
03:16into the summer
03:17when that rebuild happens.
03:20If he does leave,
03:22then, you know,
03:23I think we can,
03:24he's had a fantastic three years
03:26at West Ham United.
03:27He was the guy that set up
03:28Jarrod Bowen
03:28in the Conference League final
03:30in the last minute
03:31to win us that trophy.
03:32So West Ham fans love him.
03:35He's a frustrating player at times,
03:38but we know that on his day,
03:40and he was on his day
03:41against Liverpool last weekend,
03:43he's a fantastic footballer
03:45and an incredibly important player
03:46in this squad.
03:48So it'll be interesting
03:49to see what happens
03:49with his case,
03:51with the FA.
03:52But it does make me wonder,
03:54and this is pure just in my opinion,
03:57that perhaps
03:57we might be looking
03:59at a more positive outcome on that
04:01given the form
04:02that he's in at the moment.
04:04He's had a lot of distractions
04:06this season,
04:06but it didn't seem like
04:07he had any distractions on Sunday.
04:09So hopefully that's a good sign
04:10that we've got some positive news
04:11coming in May.
04:13But we'll see,
04:14we'll see.
04:14But at the moment,
04:15we just want to keep him
04:16in form,
04:17keep him playing like that,
04:18and hopefully it will help us
04:20start picking up some results.
04:21So hopefully,
04:24if we can get him back
04:24to his very best
04:25between now and the end
04:26of the season,
04:27at least,
04:28then, you know,
04:29that's incredibly important
04:30for the final six games.
04:32But no doubt,
04:35regardless of his form this year,
04:36regardless of his lack of output,
04:38his lack of numbers,
04:39there will be no doubt
04:40a lot of interest
04:41in him this summer.