Transfer insider confirms club is ‘working to complete’ deal for Hammers man

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.

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.