West Ham’s players were on a coach bound for Merseyside and a meeting with Everton earlier this month when confirmation came through of Lucas Paqueta’s recall to the Brazilian national side.

By then, it was something of a formality, Paqueta having met with new head coach Dorival Junior in London the same week, but it did not stop his team-mates delivering a celebratory reception on arrival at their overnight hotel.

Dropped by the Selecao last autumn, as news emerged of an FA investigation into potential betting breaches, the 26-year-old has not played for his country since June. But on Saturday night, against England at Wembley, West Ham’s ‘Brazilian magnifico’ will become Brazil’s once more.

At this stage, no one knows whether this will prove an innocent hero’s return or mere temporary relief. The FA’s investigation remains ongoing, with Paqueta co-operating fully and all parties in the dark as to when it will be concluded.

The probe relates to a series of yellow cards awarded to the playmaker in West Ham matches and the comparison has been made to a similar investigation into a booking received by then Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka in 2021, which lasted 17 months before finding no case to answer.

Rather, then, Paqueta’s recall feels a matter of natural course, one that has not, unlike his initial axing, been met with any great controversy in Brazil.

With the investigation dragging on almost eerily quietly, Brazil, within sight of the Copa America and about to start a fresh cycle, cannot afford to wait around. It helps, too, that Dorival once coached Paqueta’s fledgling talent at Flamengo in some of the final months before he left his homeland for Europe and AC Milan.

“He continues to play normally [for West Ham], he was not punished, so it is a situation that is not for us to judge,” Dorival said, when naming his squad earlier this month.

It is the same stance that David Moyes has taken all along. The Hammers boss has shown loyalty almost to a fault to his players in the past, most infamously when starting Kurt Zouma in a game against Watford only 24 hours after a video of the defender abusing his cat went viral.

Paqueta’s case is nothing like as grim, and Moyes has never shown even a flicker of hesitation in backing his record signing, who scored a stoppage-time penalty to secure victory over Chelsea in August, two days after the betting scandal broke.

“He showed character, never hid away from the ball and his performance was very good,” Moyes said after that game. “There was never any doubt about picking him. He’s a solid and tough character, so no problems.”

Lucas Paqueta

Speaking at Brazil’s base in St Albans yesterday, Paqueta paid tribute to Moyes’s man-management.

“Without a shadow of doubt, the support he gave me to leave all this behind, it was essential,” he said.

“He was special for me and his support was important for me. He said he wanted me playing in the team — that confidence was very important for me.”

In the lead-up to Saturday’s friendly, there have been fresh headlines in Brazil regarding Manchester City’s interest in Paqueta. The Premier League champions pulled out of a move on hearing of the FA investigation in August, but are expected to come back in this summer, when the midfielder’s £85million release clause kicks in. Neither element of the uncertainty around his future, though, has so far affected his football.

“I think sometimes we let it slip or forget that this is our dream,” Paqueta said. “It’s been one of mine since I was a child. Getting on the field to be able to compete is a privilege.”

Seven goals and six assists for his club this season tell part of the story, but the manner in which both Brazil and West Ham have struggled in his absence burnishes the tale. Combined, in 15 games without Paqueta this term, the two teams have won just three matches: against Bolivia, Lincoln and Peru.

He returns now to an injury-hit, inexperienced Brazil squad ready to embrace a new role, and not only because Dorival is likely to deploy him as an attacking No10, rather than in the deep-lying position Tite opted for at the 2022 World Cup in a bid to accommodate a fantasy football front-four.

Galeno, the winger who scored Porto’s first-leg winner against Arsenal in the Champions League last month, was also on media duty here, having been called into the squad for the first time. When asked which senior players he looked up to, it was telling that Paqueta was name checked alongside Vinicius Jr, the Real Madrid star.

“I don’t hide from this responsibility,” Paqueta said. “Being in the national team has always been my dream. When I return, I feel even more privileged.”