West Ham United's Lucas Paqueta reportedly remains on Manchester City's transfer wishlist for 2024 after the Citizens decided against a deal for the Brazilian over the summer.
On the back of becoming a Europa Conference League champion with David Moyes's team in the 2022-23 season, during which he scored five goals and set up eight more, Paqueta was tipped to make a marquee move to the Etihad Stadium.
A deal could have come to fruition if the treble winners bowed to West Ham's £80m demands, but Paqueta's hopes of a dream move evaporated due to an FA investigation into the midfielder over suspicious betting patterns.
However, the former Lyon man has not yet been charged with any offence and has continued to represent West Ham this season, largely playing off the left to accommodate the newly-signed James Ward-Prowse.
Paqueta has two goals and one assist to show from his opening 10 games of the 2023-24 campaign, and the Irons still have him under contract until 2027 with the option of a further year.
© Reuters
The Hammers can therefore continue to play hardball in any future negotiations, but FootballTransfers claims that Man City are continuing to monitor Paqueta with a view to a possible swoop in 2024.
However, Pep Guardiola's side will watch the situation from afar until the FA's betting investigation concludes, at which point the Premier League champions will decide on their course of action.
Paqueta is understood to deny the accusations against him, and should the 26-year-old's claim of innocence be proven, Man City could reportedly rekindle their pursuit in the summer window.
The Citizens will likely have to pay a premium to prise the midfielder away from the English capital, though, having apparently come to an agreement in principle over an £80m deal before the betting revelations emerged.
Paqueta plied his trade at Flamengo, AC Milan and Lyon before joining West Ham in a £37.5m deal in 2022, and the South American now boasts seven goals and eight assists in 51 games for the Europa Conference League holders.
© Reuters
Having paused pursuit of Paqueta for the time being, Man City strengthened their engine room over the summer with the signings of Matheus Nunes and Mateo Kovacic, as well as bringing in Belgian winger Jeremy Doku from Rennes.
The Citizens also tied Bernardo Silva down to a new contract until the summer of 2026, in spite of Guardiola's admission that the Portugal international was looking to leave the club last year.
Contracts talks with Kevin De Bruyne were also on the Citizens' agenda, as the 32-year-old's deal now has fewer than 24 months left to run, but the club have apparently placed such discussions on ice while he recovers from his severe hamstring problem.
In De Bruyne's absence, Julian Alvarez has shouldered the goalscoring and playmaking responsibility with aplomb, registering seven goals and five assists in 11 games across the Premier League and Champions League so far this season.
Despite Alvarez's exploits and their ongoing interest in Paqueta, Man City are rumoured to be weighing up an approach for Bayern Munich and Germany star Jamal Musiala, who is also on Liverpool's wishlist.
