If there is one player in all of West Ham’s squad who has improved most since the arrival of Graham Potter, it is Lucas Paqueta.

As West Ham’s record £51m signing and highest paid player of all time, Lucas Paqueta fell below the required – and expected – standards last year.

Paqueta had been in fine form for the Hammers going into January 2024 until he picked up an injury in an FA Cup game against Bristol City.

He had just set up Jarrod Bowen with a brilliant assist four minutes into a game which would be symptomatic of West Ham’s downfall.

Going into the year the Hammers were sixth in the Premier League, one win off the top four, in the last 16 of the Europa League and embarking on an FA Cup campaign against lowly Championship opposition.

Paqueta went off injured in that game against the Robins and it became a line in the sand moment as West Ham completely unravelled.

The Brazilian magnifico was out for around six weeks. Bristol secured a replay and knocked the Hammers out.

There would be just 11 wins in all competitions under two managers in the rest of the calendar year and Paqueta was never the same again.

The arrival of Graham Potter as Julen Lopetegui’s replacement has sparked the 27-year-old back to life.

Suddenly Paqueta has looked like West Ham’s biggest talent again.

He has his swagger back and is working his socks off for the team.

Lopetegui was a disaster for West Ham, becoming the shortest-serving permanent manager in the club’s 130-year history.

A host of players, including Paqueta, have said they struggled to understand the Spaniard both literally and in terms of what he wanted from them as players and a team.

The new manager has brought clarity and a refreshing change of approach in terms of the style of play.

Now West Ham’s Paqueta has made it clear Potter is levels above Lopetegui.

The midfielder has credited his new boss for his stark upturn in form and obvious change in attitude and application.

Paqueta has even gone as far as to say Potter’s first game in charge was the start of him getting back to his old self.

The key to it all, though, has been Potter encouraging Paqueta to express himself and not be afraid to make mistakes – as he was under the previous manager.

And he says it’s not just him loving the change of manager – but the entire squad.

“I think that (Potter’s first game at Aston Villa in the FA Cup) was the start of me getting back to my old self on the pitch,” Paqueta told West Ham’s website.

“So, I think that confidence, between him making things very clear to me, what I can do, what I should do, has given me a lot of confidence to do my best.

“I think the trust he (Potter) gave me from the first day he was here, the conversations we had, was something that gave me a lot of confidence.

“We’ve really enjoyed working under the new coaching staff. All the ideas he’s put forward are very clear, very organised, I think it’s simple for us to understand. Of course, we have a lot of work to do, it’s only been a few weeks of training. We’ve had a very good response and I hope that we understand each other more and more and can put into practice what he’s been asking of us….

“Having the coach’s trust that I can take risks, knowing that I’m going to lose one ball or two, but that I’m going to work even harder to win it back. This generates confidence in a player and that’s what’s been happening on the pitch.”

If only West Ham had of pulled the trigger on Lopetegui far sooner and brought Potter in.

Or better still if they’d just appointed the Englishman in the first place.

But what’s done is done and Paqueta’s frank admission should fill every West Ham fan with hope for the future.