Flamengo have been working on signing West Ham United’s Lucas Paquetá in the winter market.
The Brazilian club have already confirmed their interest. Earlier this week, Flamengo president Luiz Eduardo Baptista said “we are close” to finalising the deal with West Ham.
Two days ago, claims from Brazil reported the payment structure is slowing down the talks with West Ham. Venê Casagrande explained the Hammers have accepted receiving the fee in three instalments.
The fee agreed is £35.3m [€41.25m]. On Tuesday, ESPN Brasil said the distance between the clubs is £3.4m-£4.3m [€4m-€5m] for the first instalment in 2026. Flamengo want to lower this figure while Nuno Espírito Santo’s side are standing firm.
Globo Esporte report the Brazilian club made progress in their negotiations with West Ham on Tuesday.
The leading Brazilian outlet state: ‘The total amount of money to be transferred this year has become a concern, as the payment schedule is considered crucial for Flamengo to meet other commitments in its 2026 budget.’
There’s still optimism of bringing the attacking midfielder back to the club in this window. The South American club have also started drafting the contract details with a hope of announcing Paquetá’s signing this week.
Not quite West Ham’s ex-love love just yet…
Globo claim West Ham drove Flamengo fans ‘crazy’ by posting the 28-year-old’s ‘goodbye’ video on TikTok. The post had a caption in Portuguese, ‘Amado Batista was not wrong when he said’ with the track Meu Ex-Amor (My Ex-Love) playing in the background. Batista is the singer.
Another Brazilian outlet, UOL, also report on this. They have inserted West Ham’s original TikTok post, but it’s no longer accessible. Perhaps it was posted as a mistake.
It’s also possible that it was an old video and Flamengo fans and their local media are making too much out of it.
Either way, the negotiations between Flamengo and West Ham are ongoing. As it stands, the two clubs haven’t found a total agreement. So he’s not quite Meu Ex-Amor yet…
