West Ham United star Lucas Paqueta admits he and close friend Bruno Guimaraes agreed to a 'loser pays for dinner' bet ahead of their scheduled Premier League meeting over the weekend. Newcastle United were due to play the Hammers at the London Stadium on Sunday before top flights chiefs cancelled all fixtures following the death of The Queen.
Paqueta and Guimaraes have a close relationship and had planned to meet up for dinner in the capital after the game, with that arrangement now having to be put on hold until the game is rescheduled.
“We had a bet with each other that the loser has to buy dinner — dinner in London, because we already had dinner in Newcastle,” Paqueta told The Times this week. “Bruno and Vinicius Jr [the Real Madrid playmaker] are my two best friends in football.
"I’ve known Vini since we were ten, at Flamengo, and me and Bruno built this amazing friendship at Lyon and became really close. It seems like yesterday we were playing video games together and talking about what it would be like if we ever played against each other. And soon it will happen.”
Paqueta was heavily linked with a move to Newcastle earlier in the summer due to his relationship with Guimaraes. The pair were also spotted enjoying a kickabout on Tyneside as the former holidayed in England earlier this year.
However, West Ham were the only English club to bid for the Lyon playmaker, who arrived days before the end of the summer window. Paqueta, like many other Brazilians, saw the Premier League as the right location to advance his career.
“Bruno told me the Premier League is a great competition and was very complimentary about West Ham," he added. "He told me it was a great club and difficult to play against. I just joked and said, ‘They’ll be even more difficult when I am there.’ ”
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