West Ham’s bid to sign Felipe Anderson from Lazio stands on the brink of collapse, according to Gianluca Di Marzio.
The Sky Sports Italy transfer expert has revealed on his personal website that talks between the two clubs over the Brazil international has suffered a “sharp stop” and is currently “blocked” because they cannot reach an agreement on the fee and payment schedule.
Di Marzio reports there was contact between the England and Italian clubs on Sunday but Lazio are demanding an up-front fee of £35million, while West Ham have offered an initial £30.8million plus £4.4million of performance-related bonuses.
Good move for West Ham?
Yes, definitely. Anderson is a stellar talent who would add a new dimension to a Hammers attack that was overly reliant on Marko Arnautovic last season, particularly in the second half of the campaign. The 25-year-old offers craft, skill and goal scoring and creating potential, with his 2017-18 numbers impressive even though he missed a big portion of the season due to injury. Manuel Pellegrini is said to be especially keen to land Anderson following the injury to Manuel Lanzini that is likely to rule him out for the entirety of 2018-19. The Lazio man is a different player, more of a forward and goalscorer, but he would be able to bridge the deficit in class that the Argentine’s absence will bring.
This Is Futbol rating 9/10
Likely to happen?
The good news is that West Ham and Lazio are still talking. The bad news is that those discussions have been going on for weeks and are yet to result in an agreement. Neither club appears willing to bend too much, and both have moved the goalposts on a few occasions, with other players mentioned to sweeten the deal, and the price changing on a number of occasions. It is a concern that the super-reliable Di Marzio reports the transfer is currently blocked, but it can still be resurrected.
This Is Futbol rating 6/10