OFFICIAL: West Ham complete club record transfer for Felipe Anderson

West Ham's summer spending total is now approaching the £100m mark, as they confirmed yet another signing on Sunday. The club are giving new boss Manuel Pellegrini serious financial backing, and the latest man to join the club's ranks is Felipe Anderson.

Anderson is a 25-year-old attacking midfielder who has been at Lazio for five seasons, joining the Italian side in 2013 from Santos for a fee of £6.75m. He has played 117 times for the Serie A team, scoring 34 goals over his five year spell. The Brazilian has hit form of late though, and scored ten of those goals in his 32 appearances last season, adding another ten assists on top of that.

This has convinced West Ham to break their club record transfer fee for the attacker, smashing the benchmark set by their £22m deal for Issa Diop earlier in the window.

Anderson signs for Pellegrini's side on a four-year contract, for a fee reported to be £35m + £7m in add-ons. This transfer marks the Hammers' seventh incoming player of the summer, following the arrivals of Fabian Balbuena, Jack Wilshere, Ryan Fredericks, Lukasz Fabianski, Andriy Yarmolenko and Issa Diop.

In an interview with the club's official website, Anderson pointed to the history of the club as one of the factors that swayed him to join. "I feel really happy and fulfilled to join West Ham United," he said. "West Ham is a club with a lot of tradition, lots of great players have played here, like Bobby Moore, Carlos Tevez and Di Canio."

 

July 15, 2018

"They were great players and idols here, and I’m aiming big, who knows, maybe I could hit their heights and be a legend here too. I'm really happy to be here. It's a dream come true."

"I want to thank the owner, David Sullivan, because he made a big effort to bring me here. I know how difficult it was, so I have to thank him a lot, and I hope I can repay his faith in me on the pitch with goals and winning games."

Sullivan was equally happy with the deal, calling it a 'statement of intent'. “Felipe was a main target of the manager so we are delighted we’ve been able to bring him to the club," he said.

“We’re very pleased with the business we’ve done so far and I hope the supporters are just as excited as we are about the squad we are building here at West Ham."

“The deal sees us significantly break our transfer record and we feel it’s a real statement of intent.”

 

July 15, 2018