Newcastle United: Paquetá may want to play with Guimarães again

Newcastle United target Lucas Paquetá could be swayed to join the Tyneside club this season due to the possibility of playing alongside fellow Brazilian midfielder Bruno Guimarães again. 

That is according to journalist Pete O’Rourke, who was speaking to This is Futbol about the Magpies’ potential transfer business heading into the final few weeks of the transfer window.

Lyon and Brazil midfielder Paquetá has been linked with a move to Eddie Howe’s side for a fee of around £40m this season, with the Ligue 1 club initially demanding a £58m fee.

Paqueta has played with Guimarães before, with the pair spending time on the pitch together at Lyon before the latter’s £40m move to Newcastle in January, whilst the pair are also both Brazil internationals. 

And O’Rourke believes that this could be a factor in Paquetá potentially making the move from France to St James’ Park this summer, saying:

“He has the possibility of maybe playing alongside Bruno Guimarães again, which would maybe make it easier for him to settle into a new club as well. 

“So that would also play a big factor, I think, in Paquetá’s decision.”

TIF Thoughts on O’Rourke’s comments…

We think that Newcastle fans will be delighted to hear that Paquetá may be swayed by a move to Tyneside due to the presence of his fellow Brazilian, as he would no doubt add even more quality to Howe’s strong midfield.

The 33-time Brazil international scored 11 goals and provided seven assists for Lyon in 44 appearances last season, suggesting that the midfielder could be a regular provider of goals for the Magpies.

Therefore, we believe that Howe should be telling Guimarães to try and encourage Paquetá to move to Newcastle this season, with the latter likely to only add to the attacking presence at the club in the middle of the park.

However, given that other potential suitors for Paqueta are playing European football, it remains to be seen how big a factor of the connection between the two players is as the Lyon man ponders over his next move.