Felipe Anderson is on his way out of West Ham permanently, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The Brazilian has been pictured in pre-season training with David Moyes’ squad this week but Romano claims Lazio are closing in on a deal that will take him back to Italy after three years in east London.
Anderson had signed from Lazio in the summer of 2018 for £36m, which was a club record fee at the time, but inconsistent form and a very underwhelming loan spell with Porto last season have led to the club being forced to cut its losses and allow him to leave on a free transfer this summer.
Lazio are working to complete Felipe Anderson deal with West Ham after talks opened few days ago. Free transfer, so West Ham could save his salary + receive a future sale percentage 🇧🇷 #WHUFC
Former Napoli left back Elseid Hysaj is also set to join Lazio as free agent. @SkySport
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 7, 2021
The 28-year-old will leave with a record of 12 goals and 13 assists in 73 first-team appearances for the Hammers, but will no doubt be remembered as a player who had so much talent but failed to show it consistently enough to warrant his £85k-a-week salary.
Romano did reveal that West Ham will secure a percentage of any fee Lazio receive for Anderson if they sell him in the future but it’s unlikely that will allow the club to regain a large chunk of the £36m (plus around £14m in wages) they paid for him in the first place.
Anderson will go down as one of West Ham’s most expensive transfer mistakes, despite his half-decent record of a goal involvement every 2.92 games, and getting him off the books should free up some of the wage bill to bring in one of David Moyes’ preferred targets this summer.
