Lucas Paqueta and wife issue heartbreaking admission on failed 2023 Manchester City transfer | OneFootball

Former West Ham United star and Brazilian playmaker Lucas Paqueta has opened up on the distress caused to himself and his family through a failed Manchester City move.

Back in the summer of 2023, City designated the midfielder as a priority signing to evolve their treble-winning engine room, with a financial package structured and medical plans mapped out.

However, the sudden emergence of a Football Association betting investigation abruptly forced Etihad Stadium executives to put the brakes on the move, leaving the player in East London and fundamentally altering his career trajectory.

The timing of a raw public reflection comes as Manchester City enter a new era under Enzo Maresca and beyond the 10 years of silverware triumph under Pep Guardiola. Mainstays like Bernardo Silva also move on, while a resolution remains in progress regarding a compensation package with Chelsea over Maresca’s services.

For Paquetá, preparations are underway with the Brazilian national team for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America.

Paqueta and his wife open up on Man City heartbreak

Speaking as part of Globo’s ‘Convocadas’ – a documentary exploring the lives of the wives of the Brazilian national team players – Lucas Paqueta and his wife have opened up on the collapsed move to Manchester City in the summer of 2023.

“He lost the chance to go to his dream team, his dream was to play for Manchester City,” Paqueta’s wife Duda Fournier revealed. “That stirred his head a lot.

“People may have a sense of how bad it was, but Lucas and I always say no one will know what we went through, no one will ever understand.

“Not even closest people can have a dimension of what we felt,” she continued.

Paqueta himself added, “It was something that affected me more professionally, but ended up totally affecting our relationship. It was difficult to smile, play with the children. That killed me. This hurt a lot.”

Moving forward without Manchester City

The Brazilian playmaker would eventually see his dreams of operating at the Etihad Stadium completely extinguished, leaving Manchester City to pivot toward alternative midfield options like Matheus Nunes.

At 28 years of age, the midfielder has worked relentlessly to rebuild his focus and stability. For City and Hugo Vian, they are now prioritising younger midfield profiles who can succeed the legendary Bernardo Silva in particular, such as Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson.

While the club works through its backroom transitions to prepare for the 2026/27 Premier League campaign kick-off on Saturday, 22 August, Paquetá’s admissions serve as a reminder of the fragile margins in the transfer industry.