Should West Ham cash in on an unhappy player? Paqueta's behaviour has certainly become tiresome with his self-indulgent red card against Liverpool, while no professional should ever refuse to play. Yes the FA put him under massive pressure with those gambling charges but that's gone now and he owes West Ham for sticking with an out-of-form player.
On the other hand Paqueta is a player who can make a difference. Would selling him prove that West Ham have given up on survival? Nuno clearly rates Paqueta and massaged his fragile ego by bringing him straight back into the side after his red card suspension. His record of four goals and one assist this season is ok but not great, though he's playing in a poor side and if he'd had a fast striker to feed he might have created a lot more.
Lucas certainly had great games in the wins against Forest and Newcastle and was impressive in the away draw at Brighton. Yet he can also be a liability in defensive areas. His game against Brighton at home included an assist, giving away a penalty and then scoring a penalty which rather sums up his season. We certainly missed his passing at Wolves.
Much will depend on Nuno's man-management. He's only asking Paqueta to wait for five months. He should be challenging Lucas to be remembered as the player who created the winning Europa Conference League goal and then stayed to try and keep us up rather than scarpering halfway through the season and leaving in the style of Dimitri Payet. Though if he's determined to go WHU have to line up a replacement and quickly.
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