An update has emerged regarding Newcastle United's pursuit of Lucas Paqueta in the summer transfer window...

What's the talk?

According to 90min, West Ham are closing in on the signing of the Brazilian midfielder after talks with Lyon this week.

The report claims that the Hammers are set to pay a fee in the region of €60m (£51m) for the playmaker, who could now join the Premier League club in the coming days.

This comes after The Telegraph's Luke Edwards claimed that the Tyneside club had held conversations over a deal for the 24-year-old but did not make a bid.

Imagine him & Alexander Isak

The Magpies must now hijack West Ham's deal for the Brazil international, as he could be a fantastic signing for Eddie Howe.

Talent scout Jacek Kulig previously described him as a "pure joy to watch" and said that he has a "left foot that could tie a tie", which suggests that the 24-year-old could be an exciting player for the Toon Army to look forward to seeing in action.

Paqueta is an attack-minded midfielder and he could form an exciting pairing with Alexander Isak, who is on the verge of a club-record deal to join Newcastle from La Liga outfit Real Sociedad.

The Swedish striker is set to arrive at St James' Park to bolster Eddie Howe's options at the top of the pitch and Newcastle could get the best out of him by signing a creative midfielder to provide the predator with service.

In the Premier League last season, Allan Saint-Maximin created a team-high seven 'big chances' for the Magpies, whilst Bruno Guimaraes was the only central midfielder in the squad (three) with more than one 'big chance' created.

Jonjo Shelvey (one 'big chance' created), Joe Willock (zero), Joelinton (zero) and Sean Longstaff (zero) all failed to offer significant quality in terms of creating opportunities for their team-mates to score.

Meanwhile, Paqueta created a whopping nine 'big chances' in Ligue 1 for Lyon and 10 in the campaign prior, which shows that he is capable of making a huge impact in the final third with his passing. He can create high-quality chances and that is why Isak could thrive alongside him.

Since the start of the 2020/21 campaign, the Real Sociedad dynamo has scored 24 goals in La Liga and, at 22, has time on his hands to develop even further and improve his scoring rate. He will need service to replicate those numbers in England, and signing the Brazilian could provide him with that.

The Lyon playmaker has also scored 18 goals in the last two seasons in the French top-flight, which suggests that he would offer a goal threat to go along with his creativity, another reason why Newcastle must hijack West Ham's move for him.