Costs $105 million, he was known as the new Neymar in Brazil and Guardiola wants him for Manchester City

Manchester City's Pep Guardiola is interested in Neymar's teammate on the Brazilian national team, Lucas Paqueta from West Ham United. The Athletic reports that Lucas Paqueta's £85m West Ham United release clause becomes active in June, and Manchester City does not expect personal terms to be an issue. The release clause in dollars is worth $105 million. Reliable football journalist Fabrizio Romano reports that Man City considers Paquetá one of the ideal targets since last summer, but no decision has been made. Paquetá has been keen on a potential move since initial talks last year.

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Paquetá joined West Ham United in August 2022 and since then has played 78 games and scored 13 goals. The Brazilian midfielder joined the Hammers from Lyon from Ligue 1, where he played from 2020 to 2022. Before playing in France, he also played at AC Milan in the Serie A from 2019 to 2020. His first professional football club was in Flamengo in Brazil from 2015 to 2019.

Paquetá made his senior Brazilian national team debut in August 2018 and since then has made 44 appearances where he scored ten goals. The 2022 World Cup in Qatar was his first with Brazil, and he scored two goals in the tournament. He played four out of Brazil's five matches in the previous World Cup. He scored in Brazil's 4-1 win against South Korea in the Round of 16, and he provided an assist for Neymar in the 1-1 draw against Croatia in the quarterfinals. Brazil lost 4-2 on penalties and was eliminated from the tournament by the Croatians.

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Manchester City's next game against Paquetá's West Ham United

Paquetá will face his potential new team, Manchester City, on the last matchday of the Premier League season on May 19th at the Etihad Stadium. Their first encounter in the Premier League this season was back in September. Manchester City won 3-1 at the London Stadium.