Lucas Paquetá has spent this World Cup reminding West Ham United of a truth that cuts deeper than nostalgia: elite connective midfielders are brutally hard to replace.
Brazil go into Wednesday night’s decisive Group C meeting with Scotland in Miami still carrying doubts at home. The Guardian’s view from Brazil detailed a national mood short on conviction, with Carlo Ancelotti’s side criticised after a 1-1 draw against Morocco and a 3-0 win over Haiti that still failed to fully persuade.
Yet within that uncertainty, Paquetá has been framed as part of the solution. The same report noted a good performance from the former Hammer against Haiti and pointed to Brazil improving once their midfield settled into a more balanced 4-3-3 structure.
For West Ham, that matters because Nuno Espirito Santo is trying to build a promotion squad without the kind of player who can slow chaos, join phases and make talented forwards look coherent.
The lesson is not that Paquetá should still be in east London at any cost. It is that replacing his function, rather than just his shirt number, has to be central to the rebuild.
Paquetá Still Shows The Profile West Ham Lack
At his best, Paquetá was never a simple No.10. He could receive under pressure, protect the ball with contact around him and turn scrappy possession into controlled territory.
That profile becomes even more valuable in the Championship, where West Ham will meet sides happy to compress central spaces and turn matches into second-ball contests. A promotion favourite needs more than power; it needs someone who can keep the game from becoming frantic.
Nuno’s promotion brief is clear. West Ham have kept him in place after relegation, with an immediate Premier League return set as the obvious target.
ReadWestHam has already covered how Karren Brady backed the key Nuno decision as part of West Ham’s Premier League return plan, and Paquetá’s Brazil role shows why recruitment has to match that ambition.
Ancelotti is not asking Paquetá merely to provide flair. He is being trusted to connect midfield, support Matheus Cunha between the lines and keep Brazil’s attacking stars from becoming isolated.
West Ham need their own version of that glue.
The Recruitment Brief Is Bigger Than One Playmaker
The temptation after relegation is to chase volume: more legs, more Championship experience and more direct runners. West Ham need some of that, but Paquetá’s current Brazil role underlines the danger of building a squad full of specialists with nobody to stitch them together.
The recruitment brief has to be more specific.
West Ham need press resistance from a midfielder who can take the first pass under pressure rather than bounce it backwards. They also need chance connection, defensive reliability and enough emotional durability to carry a club expected to dominate most weeks.
That mix is expensive. It is also non-negotiable if West Ham want to avoid becoming a team with Premier League names but Championship rhythm.
ReadWestHam has already looked at four Championship alternatives to Mateus Fernandes, and that conversation now needs to become wider.
This is not just about replacing Fernandes if he leaves. It is about making sure West Ham do not enter a promotion season without a genuine connector.
Nuno Cannot Build On Memory Alone
Paquetá’s West Ham chapter was complicated long before it ended. The FA Rule E5.1 charges relating to alleged spot-fixing were found not proven, while the separate FA Rule F3 charges over failures to comply with the investigation were found proven.
That case hung over both player and club, and it shaped how supporters processed his final months.
What remains now is a football point rather than a sentimental one. Paquetá’s Brazil resurgence shows how valuable a high-level connector can be when a team is imperfect, tense and under scrutiny.
That is exactly the type of environment West Ham are entering.
ReadWestHam has also covered how Daniel Kretinsky’s message gave West Ham’s stars a reason to pause before summer decisions, but retention alone will not solve the midfield problem.
Nuno does not need a tribute act. He needs a midfield architecture that gives West Ham control when promotion pressure starts to bite.
Paquetá’s World Cup is simply the reminder that control rarely arrives by accident.
