West Ham's Felipe Anderson arrives in Rome to complete Lazio transfer

West Ham winger Felipe Anderson has landed in Rome ahead of his impending transfer to former club Lazio, having previously left the Serie A side to join the Hammers in 2018.

West Ham initially brought Anderson to the Premier League in what was then a club record deal worth up to £36m. The Brazilian impressed during his debut season, scoring 10 times in 40 appearances, but struggled for game time thereafter and spent 2020/21 on loan at Porto.

However, that temporary switch to Portugal did little to reignite Anderson’s career and he managed only 10 appearances in all competitions, just five of them as a starter.

Such has been his drop in value and with a contract at the London Stadium expiring next year, West Ham may now pocket as little as £4.2m by selling him back to Lazio.

Anderson, now 28, has been welcomed back to Rome with a message posted by Lazio’s official Twitter account. In the picture he is seen smiling in the back of a car wearing a Lazio scarf.

West Ham finished sixth in the Premier League last season, their highest place in 22 years, to secure a place in the Europa League group stage for the coming campaign.

Strengthening the squad is vital this summer in order to remain competitive while contending with additional commitments in Europe, but both incomings and outgoings have so far been quite limited.

Anderson will be only the second first-team player to leave the club since the end of last season following the release of centre-back Fabian Balbuena, while Craig Dawson’s permanent transfer from Watford following his successful loan is the only signing that has been completed.

The coming weeks could prove crucial with regard to the futures of Jesse Lingard, who has returned to Manchester United since his loan ended, and Declan Rice, who impressed at Euro 2020 and was already wanted by a number of the top Premier League clubs.

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