Gary Neville says Man City has done David Moyes a massive favor by creating an ‘aura’ around West Ham with Lucas Paqueta’s interest. When the news about Paqueta came to light about his investigation by FIFA and FA over betting breaches, it was a bolt from the blue.
A deal had reportedly been agreed before the allegations, which Paqueta denies, and any potential move to Man City collapsed. Though, all these incidents have not affected his form. The Brazilian helped Hammers beat Luton Town and continue their undefeated run.
He provided an assist with an all-round performance to give West Ham a victory. The debut season for Paqueta was not a memorable one. Irrespective of that, Paqueta has overcome all the chaos and bad form and is now unplayable for Hammers.
Neville feels City helped West Ham
The bid from City is evidence of his form. It attracted those out of the West Ham sphere. Gary Neville says City has done Moyes a favor by creating an ‘aura’ around West Ham.
In a podcast with Sky Sports, Neville said,
“What I think City done with Paqueta, they’ve established they’ve got an £80m player which has put an aura around Paqueta.”
He continues,
“When Manchester City come in for you and bid that level of money and then obviously he stays because of an issue, you then think ‘hang on a minute we’ve got an £80m player in our team this season’’
“That’s probably to be fair made them feel so much better about having him. They knew he was a good player before. But when the best team in the world at this moment in time comes in for him, and he ends up in your team you think ‘wow we’ve got one hell of a player here’.“And actually what they also have as a club is a player at the end of next season might be another £80m player (they can sell) which means they can refresh again.“
“But for the time being just enjoy him. He’s so graceful on the ball. I love the way in which he paces the pass, he rolls passes into players, to the right side, away from the defender. He really is a good player. Look we knew he was a good player last season but it takes that bid from Man City to probably make us realise how good.”
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