It was again another mixed summer transfer window for West Ham United and undoubtedly there will be good arguments from the fans, and pundits alike, that manager Graham Potter would have wanted the club to strengthen far more than we actually managed to do.

But as we enter the first international break of the 2025/26 Premier League campaign there is another story bubbling around in the world of the Hammers and it again concerns midfielder Lucas Paqueta.

As we all know, the 28 year old, 56 capped Brazilian international attacker, was charged by the Football Association back in May 2024 following accusations that he had allegedly got himself deliberately booked for the ‘improper purpose of affecting the betting market’. Match fixing, even just yellow cards, are an issue that all football fans will be aware of and will absolutely want to be policed by the authorities, much as we want bitcoin casino promotions Betpanda to be rightly regulated as they are, and as we all know he was cleared of four counts of supposed spot fixing by an independent commission back in July 2025.

This week the commission’s findings were published, and rather surprisingly the independent commission concluded that the FA had questions to answer on why they had not actually called in an independent expert for their case that could competently explain the key area of betting data and how it related to their charges that had been levied.

With that known is it not entirely unexpected that Paqueta is assessing his options because he feels a little bit hard done by given the charges he faced, and the clear lack of evidence to prove them, so he is now reportedly looking at his own options. Very few will blame him given how this has played out, and certainly how long it has run on without a decision and West Ham themselves may be wise to look at their own options given the potential sum of money and profit we lost out on when the charges were made.

It is being reported that Paqueta’s legal team are analysing the final report, and that if they feel confident in their determination, that they will look at suing the FA directly based on a significant loss of potential earnings for their client. We should not forget that at the point Manchester City were sniffing around and there was plenty of talk of a possible £80 million bid, but that evaporated given that there was the potential of a significant playing ban hanging in the air.

The report itself acknowledged that Paqueta and West Ham were in line to receive ‘substantial sums running into the tens of million of pounds’ and helping Paqueta’s potential case here is that they also noted that in light of that they had to acknowledge that both parties ‘reserve all of their rights in that regard’ because it left a legal question that could be chased.

It in no way means Paqueta or West Ham have a cause of action here that is winnable. It means there is a question both parties can ask of the FA. The problem for Hammers fans is that after all the distractions the initial charges caused, this is quite clearly another distraction that we do not need having lost two of our opening three games.

But it is what is, and if Paqueta feels wronged – that is something only he can address.