West Ham United still sit at the centre of the Lucas Paquetá talks, but Brazilian reports now explain why Flamengo’s move has taken longer than expected – and hesitation is not the reason.

According to journalist Mônica Alves, Flamengo’s proposal for Lucas Paquetá is already prepared. The figures range between £34m and £36m (€40m-€42m), close to what West Ham have indicated they want. The club are expected to submit that bid today.

So what caused the delay? Mônica reports that Flamengo chose to slow things down for internal reasons. Head coach Filipe Luís, sporting director José Boto, and president Luiz Eduardo Baptista wanted to meet first. Their goal was to review the budget and agree on what the club could realistically offer within West Ham’s parameters.

Flamengo and West Ham have already held alignment meetings. However, the clubs avoided submitting a formal bid before that internal discussion. The strategy aimed to create a balanced scenario, with room for concessions on both sides, and speed things up once the offer arrived.

Optimism over West Ham transfer

RTI Esporte add that timing remains the main obstacle. West Ham prefer to release Paquetá only after the...