West Ham technical director Tim Steidten insists uncertainty over Lucas Paqueta’s future is not impacting the club’s transfer plans.
Paqueta was in May charged by the Football Association with misconduct over allegations he deliberately earned yellow cards in Premier League matches as part of a betting scheme, after suspicious betting patterns were traced back to his native Paqueta Island.
The FA, following a nine-month investigation into potential breaches, accued the Brazilian of “intentionally seeking to receive a card” in four Premier League games “for the improper purpose of affecting the betting market in order for one or more persons to profit from betting”.
Paqueta has denied all charges and is currently playing for Brazil at the Copa America in the USA.
If found guilty, Paqueta risks being hit with a ban and missing the prime years of his career, while it had also been suggested it could force West Ham to rethink their transfer plans.
Paqueta had been linked with a move Manchester City this summer and, in the current market, could fetch a fee of north of £80million.
However, when asked how difficult it was for West Ham to plan for the summer transfer window with a possible ban hanging over Paqueta, Steidten said: “It’s not so difficult, to be honest, because the information we have is quite easy, that he is part of our team and he can play for us.
“I don’t have so many thoughts on this one, as long as nobody told me or us something else. Of course, we have to react, but at the moment he is part of our team and it’s not really a big issue for us.
“I met him in Brazil because I was watching some games. We are looking forward to having him back in London. He is an important part of our team. He is a member of our family. We are looking forward to seeing him.”
New West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui, who begins pre-season with his players this week, has offered his support to Paqueta and said he is “suffering” with the charges hanging over him.
“We know he and his family are suffering a lot in this moment but I likes it when I saw him smiling in the last match because he was enjoying playing football,” he said.
“We are his family in England, we are going to take care of him a lot. We are waiting and looking forward to seeing him on the pitch playing with us. It is important to say that because we know he and his family are suffering a lot. We are looking forward to him being here with us.
“The last match he played very well. I was very happy to see him smiling. I want to see that a lot. It would be good for him and for us. He is an important part of our team.”
