Man City’s £80m transfer move for West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta off amid betting investigation

Manchester City’s £80m move to sign Lucas Paqueta from West Ham is off amid an FA betting investigation into the midfielder.

An £80m deal had been agreed in principle last week before West Ham were informed on Wednesday that the Brazil international was the subject of an FA investigation into alleged betting breaches.

Per Sky Sports, there was a very small chance on Friday morning that the transfer could still go ahead but there is now no prospect of that happening.

Paqueta is due to be interviewed by the FA as part of their investigation and he denies any wrongdoing.

The investigation started when a larger than usual number of bets were placed in Brazil on Paqueta receiving a yellow card in West Ham’s home game against Aston Villa on 12 March 2023.

Paqueta was shown a yellow card by referee Chris Kavanagh in the 70th minute of the 1-1 draw for a challenge on John McGinn.

The bets were reported to the International Betting Integrity Association who alerted FIFA and the FA.

A spokesperson for FIFA said: “As a general policy, we do not comment on whether or not investigations are under way into such alleged cases.”

The 25-year-old has been omitted from Brazil’s squad for next month’s World Cup qualifiers against Peru and Bolivia.

Paqueta, who has four years left on his West Ham contract, was booked nine times for club and country last season.