Summary West Ham United can demand a high price for Lucas Paqueta from Manchester City this summer, as they are not obligated to sell until next year. City's initial offer of €80m was swiftly rejected by West Ham, and they are planning to make a verbal offer of €101m, but the Irons won't sell for less than €110m. Despite having an £85m release clause that kicks in next summer, West Ham can ask for any price they want now, giving them leverage in negotiations.
West Ham United are within their right to "ask for what they want" from Manchester City for one of their most important players this summer as they cannot be made to sell until next year, per Dharmesh Sheth.
Is Lucas Paqueta leaving West Ham United this summer?
Just when the summer was starting to look up for Hammers fans with the arrival of Mexico international Edson Alvarez and the supposed breakthrough in negotiations for Harry Maguire, something has to come along and ruin it all – the potential departure of Lucas Paqueta.
It looked like following the sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal earlier on in the window, the Irons would only be selling players they deemed surplus to requirements or those that just hadn't settled in, like Gianluca Scamacca, so when City made an approach for the dynamic Brazilian, it was somewhat surprising.
According to French outlet Foot Mercato the Premier League champions have already made an offer worth €80m (£69m) for the 5 foot 11 dynamo, an offer swiftly rejected by West Ham.
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The publication have also reported that the Cityzens are planning to make a verbal offer of €101m (£87m), which still won't be enough as David Moyes' side don't plan on selling for anything less than €110m (£95m).
However, with an £85m release clause in his contract that kicks in from next summer, the Europa Conference League champions are in a position to demand whatever price they want from the treble winners, per Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth.
He explained the situation on Sky Sports News (via Football Daily), saying:
"In Paqueta's contract of around £85m, that doesn't kick in until next summer. So West Ham can ask for what they want just now."
How much does Lucas Paqueta earn?
Since joining the East Londoners last summer, the former Lyon star earns an eye-watering £150,000-a-week, or £7,800,000-a-year, which makes him the club's current top earner by quite some way.
Just behind the 25-year-old are Danny Ings and Kurt Zouma, who both earn around £125,000-a-week at the London Stadium or £6,500,000-a-year for their efforts.
Should he make the move to the Etihad, he can expect to get a nice raise for doing so as his current pay packet would only place him 14th on the club's earners list – alongside Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva and Kalvin Phillips – which, if he is moving for nearly £100m seems unlikely.
That said, he would likely be worth it for the treble winners as in just one year at West Ham, he has already shown enough to convince Pep Guardiola that he's good enough to join his side.
In his 28 league appearances last season, he scored four goals, provided three assists, won four Man-of-the-Match awards and averaged an impressive match rating of 6.97, per WhoScored.
His underlying numbers are also brilliant, and under the tutelage of one of the greatest managers of all time, he's likely only to improve.
According to FBref, which compares players across Europe's top five leagues, the "simply sensational" midfielder sits in the top 1% for tackles and blocks, the top 4% for clearances, the top 6% for progressive passes, the top 7% for aerial duals won, and the top 15% for attempted passes, all per 90.
Described as a "really good player" by manager Moyes earlier this year, he would be a massive loss to the Irons were he to leave this summer and only make the club's lack of signings even more of a problem.
