Manchester City could reportedly try again for West Ham United playmaker Lucas Paqueta in the January transfer window.
The treble winners were understood to have been making headway over a big-money deal for the former Lyon man over the summer as they prepared to cope without Kevin De Bruyne for the opening months of the campaign.
However, Paqueta was then the subject of an FA investigation into suspicious betting patterns over yellow card frequency, which saw the Citizens temporarily abandon their pursuit of the Brazil international.
Paqueta has not been charged with any offence, though, and he has been on form at the start of the 2023-24 campaign, scoring four goals and setting up one more in 15 matches across all tournaments.
The FA's betting prove into the 26-year-old is still ongoing, and he remains contracted to the Europa Conference League winners until 2027 with the option of a further 12 months.
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Should Paqueta not face any action over the alleged betting offences - which he strenuously denies - UOL claims that Man City will reignite their interest once the window reopens in two months' time.
If the South American has been cleared by the time January rolls around, Man City will supposedly make a new approach midway through the season, and Paqueta is apparently awaiting a verdict from the FA after giving a statement.
West Ham are believed to have rejected a £70m bid from Man City over the summer, but the Irons would have been willing to sell for £80m after Paqueta agreed personal terms with Pep Guardiola's side.
Whether West Ham are prepared to lose Paqueta in January is another question entirely, though, as the Hammers could be fighting for glory in the Europa League, EFL Cup and FA Cup after Christmas, as well as their Premier League exploits.
Either way, West Ham would expect to make a healthy profit on the €42.9m (£37.6m) they paid for the Brazilian's services in 2022, since when he has amassed nine goals and eight assists in 56 matches for David Moyes's team.
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Man City purportedly believe that Paqueta would be the perfect long-term successor to De Bruyne, who sustained a severe hamstring injury against Burnley in the opening weekend of the 2023-24 season and will miss the remainder of the calendar year.
The Citizens were believed to have been planning contract talks with the Belgian, whose current terms expire in the summer of 2025, but those discussions have been placed on ice while he recuperates.
In De Bruyne's place, Julian Alvarez has been an unexpected success story in the number 10 role with seven goals and five assists in 17 matches, but he is not expected to be a long-term creative solution.
Jeremy Doku has also stepped up to the plate and registered one goal and four assists in last weekend's 6-1 crushing of Bournemouth, becoming the youngest player to come up with five goal involvements in a single Premier League game.
Guardiola's side remain top of the Premier League table ahead of Sunday's meeting with Chelsea, as Tottenham Hotspur's late capitulation in a 2-1 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers denied the North London giants the chance to leapfrog the treble winners on Saturday.
Ben Knapton
