Lucas Tolentino Coelho de Lima — universally known as Lucas Paquetá — was born on 27 August 1997 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He came through the academy of Flamengo and made his senior debut in 2017, helping the club lift the 2017 Campeonato Carioca before securing a high-profile move to Milan in January 2019 for around €38 million.
His Milan spell was uneven. In January 2020 he moved to Lyon for about €20 million, and over two and a half Ligue 1 seasons he flourished as a creative midfielder/second striker, scoring against Paris Saint-Germain and reaching the Coupe de France final. In August 2022 West Ham United signed him for a club-record fee of around £51 million.
At West Ham he has been the senior creative talisman, scoring in the run-in of the 2022-23 UEFA Europa Conference League — which the club won, their first European trophy in 58 years. He has continued as a fixture under successive managers since, with the betting investigation that briefly threatened his career resolved in his favour by the Football Association in 2025.
For Brazil he debuted in 2018 and has been a senior fixture ever since, appearing at the 2022 World Cup, the 2024 Copa América and through the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign. He has scored memorable goals for the national team, particularly the technique-heavy strike in their 2022 round-of-16 win over South Korea.
Standing 1.80 m, Paquetá is a left-footed creative midfielder whose first touch, body shape and ability to play through tight pockets evoke comparisons with a more directly attacking Kaká. He combines the close control of a number ten with the willingness to defend that modern Premier League midfields demand.