Man City must make Lucas Paqueta decision after Ilkay Gundogan news
Manchester City could soon step up their interest in West Ham United midfielder Lucas Paqueta amid the latest update regarding Ilkay Gundogan.
Paqueta has faced plenty of difficulties during his time with the Hammers, but remains a key player at the London Stadium, having notched 18 goals and 14 assists in 120 appearances across all competitions — lifting a Uefa Conference League title along the way.
However, the Brazil international has also been regularly linked with a departure from West Ham and recently, Manchester City seem to have returned to the table after previous interest.
According to Football Insider transfer correspondent Pete O’Rourke, a fee of £45million would be enough for West Ham to agree to the sale of Paqueta, who has two years remaining on his contract.
Ilkay Gundogan’s Man City future uncertain
City‘s need to sign Paqueta might well be dictated by the outcome of Ilkay Gundogan’s transfer saga this summer.
The Germany international has been a key player once again since returning to the Etihad Stadium last summer, clocking up 54 appearances across all competitions so far during his second spell.
However, Gundogan turns 35 during the upcoming season, while he has just one year remaining on his contract.
| Manchester City stats | Ilkay Gundogan |
| Appearances | 358 |
| Goals | 65 |
| Assists | 47 |
Back in June, former Premier League scout Mick Brown told Football Insider that Galatasaray were weighing up a move for the veteran midfielder, who could be sold as part of a summer reshuffle for Pep Guardiola.
Since then, Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker have both left City, and O’Rourke believes he could now stay at Man City to avoid a leadership crisis.
That being said, the transfer expert still concedes that there will be a temptation to do business with clubs for Gundogan, with this their last chance to recoup a fee for his departure.
Should Gundogan depart, it could leave a gaping hole in Guardiola’s midfield, especially considering James McAtee and Kalvin Phillips are also set to be sold.
That would leave City with new signing Tijjani Reijnders, Nico Gonzalez, Mateo Kovacic and Rodri to man the base of midfield. However, Gonzalez has also been linked with a departure despite only joining in January, while the latter two are still recovering from injury.
Guardiola can ill afford this sort of manpower shortage in the engine room, so a move for Paqueta would become a necessity.
The Brazilian has been tracked by City for a number of years now, so there has been plenty of time to get their homework done.
What’s more, according to FBref, Paqueta shared close statistical similarities to Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali of Newcastle in the Premier League last season.
The duo are players who have also been linked with Man City in the recent past, highlighting a clear stylistic profile that the Cityzens are going for.
But Paqueta — who has the added bonus of being far younger than Gundogan — is likely to cost far less than Tonali or Guimaraes, who have longer contracts and are at a club that has already endured a torrid summer window.
Man City to throw everything at new deal for irreplaceable Rodri
While there is still a possibility Gundogan could leave, Manchester City appear to be pulling out all the stops to keep Rodri at the Etihad.
The Spaniard has been a revelation since joining from Atletico Madrid, with his importance that much clearer given how much City struggled without him last season following an early-season ACL injury.
Guardiola will hope to see Rodri play a key role once again his season, but will also be keen to extend his contract, which has just two years left to run — especially given Real Madrid have been lurking in the shadows.
For City, there are no lengths that are too far to go to when it comes to keeping Rodri around.
As mentioned, Man City are already dangerously close to a lack of depth in midfield, while their record of 76.8% win rate with Rodri compared to just 46.8% without him (all competitions since he signed, Transfermarkt) proves just how invaluable he is.
Quality though he may be, Paqueta simply cannot replace Rodri’s influence at City. Likely, nobody can right now.