£51m West Ham player once linked to Newcastle United could miss out tonight due to niggle

Newcastle United take on West Ham United at St James' Park in tonight's 8pm kick-off live on Sky Sports.

West Ham come to Newcastle with a few players very familiar to Newcastle fans due to being linked with a move to the North East at various times.

Max Kilman opted to join West Ham over Newcastle in the summer while Jarrod Bowen made it as far as Wetherby services a few years ago before the plug was pulled on his move to Tyneside - he has since been reported as being a target for Newcastle as they look to add firepower down the right side of the attack.

Another player who was heavily linked with a move to Newcastle before joining the Hammers, albeit mostly by fans than any actual concrete media stories, is of course Lucas Paqueta.

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Newcastle United fans wanted a Bruno Guimaraes and Lucas Paqueta reunion at St James' Park

Paqueta played alongside Bruno Guimaraes at Lyon and the two are best buddies. After Bruno's arrival at Newcastle, fans were hoping that Paqueta would soon follow.

While he did follow his mate to England, he instead ended up joining West Ham in a £51 million deal.

It took Paqueta a while to find his feet in England unlike Bruno who hit the ground running, but he has gone on to become a star at West Ham.

Lucas Paqueta could be dropped to the bench for tonight's match

Fortunately for Newcastle, Hammers News are reporting that Paqueta is a doubt for tonight's game after returning from international duty with a slight niggle.

It's not being reported as something that will force him out of the squad, but Carlos Soler could take his place in the starting XI.

Regardless of whether he gets on to the hallowed turf tonight, we're sure there'll be some smiles on the faces of him and Guimaraes after the game, most likely with Joelinton looking on, staring daggers at Paqueta for trying to steal his mate back.