Only a year after his arrival at West Ham, Lucas Paqueta was about to leave the London suburbs to join Manchester City. Willing to pay more than €80 million to secure the services of the Brazilian midfielder, the reigning English champion long believed he had the right end of the rope but his transfer ultimately collapsed due to the involvement of the 26-year-old player in a case of rigged sports betting.
As we mentioned last September, several of his relatives would have bet money on a yellow card received by the player during a confrontation against Aston Villa. Targeted since by an investigation by the English Federation (FA), the Daily Mail indicates that Lucas Paqueta agreed to cooperate with investigators by providing access to his phone in order to determine whether he had indeed violated betting rules. As a reminder, the former Olympique Lyonnais playmaker was not called by his coach, Fernando Diniz, during the Seleção’s last rallies due to these accusations.
