West Ham sign Paquetá for potential record fee - Summer spending to top €200m

This article first appeared on Aug. 26 and has been updated with new information.

West Ham have signed Lyon midfielder Lucas Paquetá for a potential club-record fee. West Ham have confirmed the transfer on Monday. Olympique Lyon have published the transfer details. The Ligue 1 side will receive €42.95 million upfront plus €18.68 million in performance-based add-ons. Milan will receive 15% of the transfer profit.  Paquetá, who currently has three years left on his Lyon deal, has a market value of €35 million. Paquetá has signed a contract until 2027 with an option for one additional season.

“I’m delighted to welcome Lucas to West Ham,” manager David Moyes said in a club statement.“He’s a player I’ve admired from afar for a very long time and of course, we saw him close up in our Europa League campaign last season. He’s a very talented footballer and whilst he will need time to adapt to the Premier League, we’re excited about adding another proven international to our squad.”

The 24-year-old attacking midfielder made the move to France in 2020, after a failed spell at AC Milan. Twelve months after joining the Italian giants for €38.4m, Paquetá then made the move to Lyon for €20m, where he has been nothing short of remarkable. After just one goal and three assists in 44 games for Milan, the Brazilian has since picked up an impressive 21 goals and 14 assists in 80 games for Lyon. Which has undoubtedly attracted the interest of a number of clubs. Prior to agreeing terms with West Ham, the midfielder was heavily linked with a move to Manchester City and Arsenal. 

More expensive than Haller: Paquetá could break transfer record

However, the Hammers sign Paquetá and make him their eighth signing of a busy summer window. In total, the Premier League club have spent no less than €139m on new signings, including Gianluca Scamacca, Nayef Aguerd and Maxwel Cornet, among others. With Paquetá signed for up to €61.63m, the Hammers have now spent €182m in base fees on new players. 

Once all bonuses have been activated, the Brazilian talent represents the most West Ham have ever spent on a player, surpassing the €45m spent on Sebastian Haller in 2019, but it also places the Premier League side second only to Chelsea in European football when it came to money spent on new signings this summer. An exciting time for West Ham fans but with huge amounts of money spent comes even greater expectations for the season ahead.