Lucas Paqueta’s lawyer has exclusively revealed to GB News that the West Ham player is considering suing the FA.
Alastair Campbell, the head of Paqueta's legal team during his two-year long battle over spot fixing, told the People's Channel just how close the midfielder was to signing for Manchester City.
Reports in the media claimed the former Lyon star could be set to face a lifetime ban from the sport, which ultimately scared Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City out of an £80million transfer.
The Brazilian had been under investigation from August 2023, and was charged with spot fixing in May 2024 with four separate incidents of allegedly getting booked deliberately “for the improper purpose of affecting the betting market".
The head of Lucas Paqueta’s legal team during his two-year long investigation for spot-fixing, Alastair Campbell, has exclusively revealed to GB News the player is considering suing the FA
| GETTYThe charges related to Premier League games against Leicester City on November 12 2022, and 2023 fixtures against Aston Villa on March 12, Leeds United on May 21 and Bournemouth on August 12.
In July 2025, the not guilty verdict was announced, and Paqueta was able to put the ordeal behind him with two years of his career being marred by the controversy.
Campbell, who headed Paqueta’s legal team throughout the lengthy process, revealed to GB News the extent to which the midfielder has been affected on and off the field.
“It was massive for him,” Campbell explained. “There was talk in the press about a potential lifetime ban.
"And, although I never really believed it would have been a lifetime ban, it certainly would have been a career-ending ban.
"If you say 15, 20 years to somebody of Lucas’ age, that's the same as a lifetime, effectively. If he had been found guilty, that was the likely range of punishment.
Lucas Paqueta faced a ban of up to 20 years according to Alastair Campbell
| REUTERS“So it was incredibly heavy for him to deal with. It started in 2023, so it was two complete seasons to have that hanging over his head professionally.
"I don't think he will mind me saying, his form took a bit of a dip. And that's an inevitable consequence of something that serious hanging over his head.
“It's affected his relationships with his family. It's threatened to completely change his way of life overnight and so, although his form did take a dip, he still did perform at a Premier League level for those two years, which is remarkable, if you ask me.”
Campbell felt the FA’s decision to use an internal investigator as opposed to independent experts was a mistake that did not add enough objectivity to the case.
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The Brazilian was found not guilty of the charges after a two-year-long process
| REUTERSHe continued: “The FA's decision to use this internal integrity investigator rather than independent experts - that's obviously a decision that they made, and their integrity function is a good one.
"The integrity investigator is good at his job, but he is ultimately an FA employee and he led the investigation, he put together the evidence, he interviewed Lucas.
“Inevitably we felt that he wasn't sufficiently independent and when we went to somebody independent and asked them to look at the data, they said, ‘Well, this betting data, [we] can see why it looks suspicious, but when you look into the detail, it's not actually consistent with a spot-fixing operation.’
“It was based on circumstantial evidence and there was no direct evidence, no suggestion on Lucas' phone or anything in his other communications to suggest that he'd actually gone out and said anything to anyone.
"So the case was, he must have done it, if you look at the betting data and if you look at his performance on the pitch.”
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The investigation scuppered the midfielder’s opportunity to join Manchester City at the beginning of their most recent Premier League triumph, in August 2023.
Campbell confirmed he is considering suing the FA as a result of the false allegations.
He said: “It's under consideration. I can't say which way or the other, but Lucas will decide. We're not in any rush to think about that, but he's had quite enough time talking to lawyers, so I wouldn't be surprised if he turned around and said, ‘Look, thank you very much, but I'm fed up with talking to you!’”
But just how close was the reported move to Manchester?
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| PA“I think it was more or less [done]. It was incredibly close. It was the Bournemouth game. That's the last game that was considered suspicious.
"He asked David Moyes not to play in that game because he was worried about getting injured, and David Moyes was considering not playing him that game because he was concerned that if he got injured a deal might fall through and the people higher up at West Ham would blame him for the loss of the transfer money. It was mid-August, so I think it was probably a week away.”
Despite the not guilty verdict, the case hasn’t reached its full conclusion just yet.
The FA continue to investigate the Brazilian over a non-cooperation charge.
This relates to Paqueta’s refusal to comment during initial interviews, under strict instruction from his legal team.
Campbell remains confident on the conclusion of this and insists that, if he were to face a fine, it wouldn’t be significant.
Lucas Paqueta's celebration against Nottingham Forest last month was telling, as he appeared to end a phone call and kiss the West Ham badge
| REUTERSHe explained: “The non-cooperation case relates to Lucas giving no comment answers at his FA interviews. He did subsequently provide answers in writing to all of the FA's questions. So it's not a case where he's withheld anything from the FA.
"He handed over his phones for them to interrogate any which way they wanted to, which is quite something for somebody [to do].
“It was just a certain amount of caution at that stage. He was advised by us and leading council to take that route.
"Obviously, the commissions disagreed about that. The commission have already indicated that, because Lucas was following legal advice and because he subsequently provided information, they would expect the sanction for that to be at the lower end of the scale.”
With the trial now concluded, and moves to Manchester and recently to Unai Emery’s Aston Villa both falling through, Paqueta is free to consider if a transfer is of interest to him.
Campbell insists that he is grateful for the Hammers’ support throughout the process, citing his recent celebration against Nottingham Forest as a clear signal of intent.
“He's given a fairly emphatic demonstration of his love for West Ham in his celebration against Nottingham Forest,” Campbell concluded.
“West Ham were really great throughout the process. They were very supportive of him. And he really appreciates that.
"I think what Lucas wants to do is rediscover his love for football, rediscover how much fun it can be playing with a smile on his face and without all of the seriousness and the weight of this case hanging over him.
"When he does that and when he plays like that, he's one of the best players in the world. I'm sure his career will reflect that going forward.”