Lucas Paqueta owes West Ham fans so much more than turning his back in their hour of need. It's a sad and sorry mess, writes OLIVER HOLT

The sad and sorry case of Lucas Paqueta and his desire to desert West Ham United when they need him most has become a powerful symbol of a dysfunctional club in freefall.

West Ham are being forced to demean themselves by trying to cling on to a player who could barely have made it more obvious that he wants out of their battle against relegation from the Premier League .

Paqueta might just be the club’s most talented player – Jarrod Bowen is their best player – but his form has been so poor that many West Ham fans have lost patience with him and just want him to leave. And now, the thorny question of Paqueta’s future is dominating the build-up to West Ham’s critical clash with Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.

West Ham are seven points adrift of safety and firmly embedded in the relegation zone as they go into the game against Thomas Frank ’s struggling side. The club’s beleaguered boss Nuno Espirito Santo knows that West Ham have to win or the demands for him to be sacked will reach a new level.

But he also knows he is going into the game with the club’s unity spoiled by speculation that Paqueta is engineering a move away from the London Stadium.

Paqueta could be a hero in this situation. He has the ability to help drag the club out of their current predicament. He could be their saviour and then leave with cheers ringing in his ears. Instead, the signs are that he wants out.

Lucas Paqueta could be a hero in this situation. He has the ability to help drag the club out of their current predicament

Paqueta is sent off for arguing with the referee during his side's defeat by Liverpool in November

There may be little to admire about West Ham’s hierarchy and the way it has torn out the club’s soul but its fans deserve a lot better from Paqueta. The club and the fans stood by the Brazilian playmaker when he was the subject of a long-running FA investigation into spot-fixing allegations.

David Moyes, the club’s former manager, supported him by giving evidence on his behalf before he was cleared by an independent regulatory commission last summer. And Paqueta even made a point of acknowledging the club’s backing of him when he celebrated being cleared at the end of July.

‘To my wife who never let go of my hand,’ Paqueta said at the time, ‘to West Ham United, to the fans who always cheered me on, and to my family, friends and the legal team who have supported me - thank you for everything.’

And yet now Paqueta appears to have forgotten all that as reports suggest he wants to sign for boyhood club Flamengo, in Rio de Janeiro, and leave West Ham behind. The latest suggestion is that he will be sold to Flamengo but that, as part of the deal, West Ham will insist he is loaned back to them for the rest of the Premier League season.

The problem is that Paqueta’s future has become a distraction at the time when West Ham need him to be at his best in their increasingly forlorn attempt to avoid the drop. He missed last weekend’s FA Cup third round victory over Queens Park Rangers amid suggestions that he had asked not to be involved.

Paqueta scores for West Ham from the penalty spot against Brighton on December 30 - but will it be his last goal for the club?

Paqueta has returned to training but as the speculation about his desire to leave heightens, there are also reports that a back injury is restricting his involvement

He has now returned to training but as the speculation about his desire to leave heightens, there are also reports that a back injury is restricting his involvement.

Paqueta is entitled to resentment about the way he has been treated by the wider English game but the way he is behaving towards a club and a fanbase that stood by him is a sad spectacle.

The fans have been loyal to him but now he is destabilising the club at the very time they can least afford it.

He has the ability to help them get out of this mess but the speculation about his future is dragging West Ham ever closer to the abyss.