OPINION
AC Milan are reportedly set to win the race for Brazilian sensation Lucas Paqueta, with the Serie A club set to sign the young midfielder for £30million in January.
As reported by The Sun, Milan have beaten out Liverpool and Manchester United for the 21-year-old talent, with Euro giants PSG and Barcelona also in the running.
While this may seem to be an insignificant loss considering the fact that not many in the UK will have heard of Paqueta, this is a failure which the club will no doubt regret.
The 21-year-old maestro has been playing a starring role for Flamengo for two seasons now, but this current campaign has been his real breakthrough as he has wowed Brazilian crowds with his stunning play.
Paqueta has netted nine goals and laid on four assists in 31 games for Flamengo so far this season, with the club currently sitting in third in the Brazilian Serie A.
His versatility has also been on show, with Paqueta filling on both wings as well as in a deep-lying midfield role for Flamengo, alongside his preferred attacking midfield position.
Paqueta is still raw, and would have a lot to learn in England before being a success, there is no doubt about that, but let’s not get it wrong, this kid is the real deal.
The youngster has already been noticed by Tite and has earned two caps for Brazil already, and the calibre of club chasing him illustrates how highly-rated he is.
With Liverpool missing out on signing Nabil Fekir over the summer, snapping up a player like Paqueta in January would have been a good way to mitigate that.
As it is, Jurgen Klopp may have to make do with his current squad, which is slightly lacking creativity in the middle of the park.
Let’s hope they do not regret their failure to move for Paqueta too much, although the likelihood is unfortunately that they will be kicking themselves at the end of the season after this damaging development.
