West Ham have no insurance on £85m asset Lucas Paqueta but will get a £21m kick-back boost it has been revealed.
Most West Ham fans had made peace with the fact Lucas Paqueta was set to leave them for Man City this summer.
It had been on the cards since last year when a move triggering his £85m release clause hit the skids due to the FA and FIFA opening an investigation into the Hammers playmaker.
With talk the case was going to be concluded in Paqueta’s favour, West Ham fans were already spending the £85m from his expected sale at the second attempt.
Especially as new West Ham head coach Julen Lopetegui needed eight or nine new signings to revamp a threadbare Hammers team.
Supporters were even less bothered about losing Paqueta given his woeful form in recent months with some accusing him of ‘coasting’.
Paqueta could cost West Ham £85m payday
That move to Man City is in serious jeopardy again, though, after West Ham’s £85m asset was officially charged by the FA over alleged involvement in illegal betting.
In a statement an FA spokesman confirmed Paqueta has been charged with misconduct in relation to alleged breaches of FA Rules E5 and F3.
A leading sports lawyer has confirmed the charges Paqueta faces are a ‘different magnitude’ to what we have seen previously in football with the likes of Ivan Toney and Sandro Tonali.
And any punishment handed down will reflect that with 10-year bans and even prison terms if referred to the police being possibilities.
An independent three-person tribunal will now decide Paqueta’s fate.
It is a well known fact that football clubs often insure their most valuable players to protect the club should anything happen to them.
Some fans have been wondering whether the Hammers have anything in place for Paqueta’s situation given his enormous book value to West Ham.
Now it has emerged that West Ham have no insurance for Paqueta but will get a £21m kick-back boost.
West Ham have no insurance for Paqueta
Board source Sean Whetstone says there is no cover in place protecting the Hammers financially.
That means West Ham could see £85m literally poured down the drain in a worst case scenario.
“West Ham have NO insurance cover if Lucas Paqueta is found guilty of spot fixing,” Whetstone said.
“Club insiders fear he could be banned for life if the tribunal goes against him as it is based on balance of probabilities and not beyond all reasonable doubt.
“West Ham would lose everything without compensation but his contract would be terminated with immediate effect if the ban was longer than his contract.”
Paqueta has three years left on his current West Ham contract with the option of another year.
Given any punishment handed out if found guilty will likely far exceed that deal, the club could tear up the Brazilian’s contract as soon as the verdict is handed down.
Hammers will get £21m kick-back boost
Obviously it will depend now on how long the process takes to conclude.
But based on the three years he has remaining, there is some solace in the fact West Ham would save themselves £21m in wages they were committed to.
Paqueta is officially West Ham’s highest earning player ever on £150k per week, as confirmed on Spotrac.
That surpassed previous highest earner Javier Hernandez (£145k pw).
That means Paqueta earns £600k per month and £7.2m a year – totalling over £21m in wages for the remaining three years of his contract.
That £21m saving would, at the very least, take the edge off any negative outcome for West Ham regarding their record £51m signing.