Lucas Paqueta has revealed just how close he came to leaving West Ham in the summer - but not to Aston Villa.

The Brazil international faced a summer of speculation, particularly when the Villans offered £47million for his services , but he ended up staying at the London Stadium.

Yet he’s now revealed it was another club he was keen to join - boyhood side Flamengo .

The 28-year-old broke through at the Rio de Janeiro club who are now one of the best teams outside of Europe under former Chelsea man Filipe Luis, who has guided them into the Copa Libertadores final.

But it was their former vice president, Marcos Braz, who did the convincing.

Attacking midfielder Paqueta told Brazilian outlet Globo: "The first moment was when Braz was still at Flamengo, there was that contact. Ex

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