Lucas Paqueta transfer news: Flamengo complete £36.5m deal to re-sign Brazil midfielder from West Ham
Lucas Paqueta has completed a £36.5m (€42m) move to Flamengo from West Ham; Paqueta joined West Ham from Lyon for a club-record fee in 2022; the Brazil international made 139 appearances for the Hammers, scoring 23 goals and registering 15 assists
Friday 30 January 2026 22:25, UK
Flamengo have signed Lucas Paqueta in a £36.5m transfer from West Ham.
Paqueta has signed a contract until December 2030 with his boyhood club. Flamengo announced the transfer a few hours before West Ham released a brief statement thanking the midfielder.
The Premier League club said they reluctantly accepted his transfer request when confirming he had been given permission to undergo a medical.
Paqueta had told West Ham he wanted to return home to Brazil for personal and family reasons after being cleared of spot-fixing charges that threatened to end his career.
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Paqueta has since said that he turned down offers from Europe because he wanted to be in Brazil for his "mental health" and to "regain peace".
The 28-year-old, who joined West Ham in 2022 from Lyon for a club record fee of around £51m, is back in Rio de Janeiro, where he began his career.
Paqueta's departure brings his spell in east London to an end, where he contributed with 23 goals and 15 assists across 139 appearances.
The Brazil international was a part of the West Ham side that ended the club's 40-year-wait for silverware, as he set up Jarrod Bowen's famous winner in the Conference League final win over Fiorentina in 2023.
Paqueta 'repositioning' himself for World Cup squad
South American football expert Tim Vickery on The Transfer Show:
"Flamengo are huge, probably the biggest club outside Europe. The Club World Cup is huge over here, gave them a lot of money and ambition. They've become a little bit like a Bond villain.
"They're champions of Brazil, they're champions of South America. But it's not enough. They want world domination. And Flamengo is where Paqueta started.
"A lot of South American players are looking to reposition themselves because of the World Cup, and Paqueta is clearly part of Carlo Ancelotti's squad. He might be in the team depending on how they line up, as Ancelotti has been trying with just two in the central midfield.
"Can they do that in the extreme heat of the United States? Maybe not. If there's a third man in midfield, then it could be Paqueta. He's probably first in line, but his big rival, a fellow called Gerson, who made an unwise move to Russia in the summer, has just come back.
"So Gerson is back in Brazil. That raises his profile, and Paqueta is thinking, because before that whole betting scandal broke, it looked like Manchester City were going to take him. That ship has sailed. So if he can't get absolute top drawer, why not go back to Flamengo in the short term?
"He's repositioning himself for the World Cup squad. In the long term, he's part of a team, part of a club, with huge ambitions. So that's how Paqueta sees it."
How Flamengo can afford Paqueta
Analysis by Sky Sports News' chief correspondent Kaveh Solhekol:
"Flamengo are turning football on its head by signing a Brazilian international still in his prime from a Premier League club for £36.5m.
"Flamengo are the champions of Brazil and the champions of South America.
"Their revenue last year was £216.4m, which makes them as rich as many Premier League clubs.
"They also earned £20m from playing in last summer's expanded Club World Cup where they beat eventual winners Chelsea in the group stages.
"They also made about £60m from player sales, a traditional source of income for Brazilian clubs.
"Private investors putting money into Brazilian clubs also means the top clubs are able to buy players from abroad rather than just sell their prized assets.
"Paqueta only wanted to return to Flamengo, the club where he spent 12 years from when he was 10.
"Flamengo's league season starts on Thursday and soon Paqueta will be able to swap the London Stadium for the world-famous Maracana; and the lower reaches of the Premier League for life at the top of the Campeonato Serie A."
