Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has hinted that another Premier League club tried to hijack the signing of West Ham United bound Lucas Paqueta, who had been linked with a move to Spurs over recent weeks.
West Ham officially confirmed on Monday that they had reached an agreement with Lyon for the transfer of Paqueta.
The Daily Express reported last week that while the Hammers were leading the race for the 24-year-old, a late move from Tottenham was still on the cards.
It was asserted that Fabio Paratici is a big fan of the Brazilian and the North London club had identified the player as a potential replacement for Bryan Gil.
Ahead of West Ham confirming Paqueta’s capture, Aulas suggested on Sunday that an unnamed English club were still in the race for the attacking midfielder.
The Lyon supremo admitted that he expected more ‘big clubs’ to show interest in the silky left-footer during the transfer window.
Aulas is quoted as saying to Canal+ on Sunday (via beIN SPORTS): “It’s unfortunate that Lucas Paqueta is leaving. But he wanted to leave. We thought we had very big clubs, we didn’t have them.
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“We had to discuss at the last moment with West Ham. Now I know there was an English club who wanted to come forward at the last moment so maybe tomorrow morning we will wake up with something new. I can’t tell you the name.”
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We know that Paratici likes to have plenty of irons in the fire at the same time and so, Spurs may have asked Lyon to keep them informed of Paqueta’s situation.
However, with the North London club passing up on the Brazilian, it remains to be seen which attacker they will now prioritise as Gil’s replacement. My money is on Traore as we know that Conte and Paratici are fans of the Wolves winger.
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