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West Ham new boy Lucas Paqueta unlikely to be unleashed on Spurs

West Ham's new £51million signing Lucas Paqueta is highly unlikely to make his debut in the London derby with Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night.

West Ham manager David Moyes was very cagey about the chances of Paqueta getting a run out in one of the biggest games of the season for both clubs, despite the Brazilian being available.

The east London club reportedly had to fly the Brazilian international to Hull, the base of the UK Border Agency, to solve a work permit crisis so he could be registered in time for the match.

However, Moyes has never been a fan of throwing new signings straight into first-team action when they haven't trained with the rest of the team and without a significant bedding in period. Recent signings Gianluca Scamacca and Maxwel Cornet's lack of regular first-team action is certainly proof of that.

"He's not trained with us yet, we've only got the paperwork done last night and we're waiting on him arriving as he's had to get his visa, etc, today," said Moyes.
"But look, he's signed and that's the important thing. He will be a big player for us."

The 25-year-old is the club's marquee signing of the summer having impressed when West Ham played Lyon in last season's Europa League.

"I'm really pleased," added Moyes. "We've been watching him for a long time and he really came to our attention when he played against us for Lyon and he was the stand-out player.
"We looked a lot deeper and we didn't think he would be available, so it's a big thank you to the board for making it happen.
"He can play two or three positions and it all made sense if we could get him - and it's never easy to get big players."
West Ham will check on full-backs Ben Johnson and Aaron Cresswell ahead of the match.
Johnson came off with a quad injury at Aston Villa on Sunday and fellow full-back Cresswell has a slight groin issue.

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