With Pep Guardiola's Manchester City side putting a few of our earlier wobbles behind us with a very good run of form that now sees us potentially have the advantage over Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool side in the race for the top of the Premier League table, those who always had faith will feel fully vindicated in their decision to not panic.
Whilst our game in hand will take a bit of time to play out fully, closing the gap to two points means we could well be in for another very enthralling end to the season, and we are also, of course, still fully on track to potentially regaining our Champions League trophy for a second time in a row and fans would attend that - the first time in a good number of years since Real Madrid last achieved a full defence of the prestigious cup.
With plenty of issues and conundrums still left to be dealt with in the remainder in the 2023/24 campaign, football fans in the modern age are wise enough to know that does not stop media outlet's from speculating what might happen in the next transfer window and West Ham United midfielder Lucas Paqueta is suddenly back on the rumour mill this week.
Recent reports claim that the City hierarchy remain very interested indeed in the 26 year old, 42 capped Brazilian international, given all the previous speculation that existed last summer where claims were made that we had agreed an £80 million fee with the London club for the player, but that the deal broke down basically at the last minute.
Fans will know, it is widely (and understandably) believed that the deal broke down because we had advanced knowledge of the fact that FIFA and the Football Association had already previously launched an investigation into him over potential betting breaches.
In early February, reports emerged that the investigation was close to coming to a close as they were nearing completion, so naturally West Ham and ourselves will discover what kind of punishment the player may face depending on what the available gathered evidence dictates.
Given the breadth and scope of recent, similar, betting rule issues, if our interest does remain, then it means we can better calculate our negotiating position and judge what we might be finally ready to spend on him, based on how much time he may not potentially be in contention for us in the coming 2024/25 campaign.
From West Ham's perspective, even if an £80 million fee was previously agreed, they will have to absolutely know and understand that this sort of fee would no longer be feasible if he receives any kind of sanction - let alone a potentially longer sanction akin to the eight month punishment Brentford and one capped England striker, Ivan Toney, was hit with last summer.
When all of those factors are addressed within the equation, any possible deal from our point of view would have to come down to what their revised valuation would be. West Ham would naturally realise he loses real and tangible value for each week he is out of contention, with them also losing his own financial cost when it comes to wages and any 'non playing' bonuses that might have been agreed for 'community work' or what have you, given the weird way modern contracts now are.
It could also well mean a lower transfer fee is agreed, but we see the sense on an offset that may well include an initial loan period (with an agreement on his wages) where West Ham win by freeing up money in their budget, and we win by giving him time to settle in the area, and get used to his new team mates and thoroughly immense himself in the club so when he can 'resume proper football activities' he is already 70% there.
Depending on what the Football Association commission decides, this is one deal to keep half an eye on as we move towards the summer.