During a recent episode of The West Ham Way podcast, @ExWHUemployee has revealed that the club were aiming to try and sell Felipe Anderson and Manuel Lanzini this summer.
This comes after a discussion took place with regards to Grady Diangana, for whom the Hammers are said to have accepted a bid of £12m from West Bromwich Albion (as per the Daily Mail). The 22-year-old spent the 2019/20 campaign on loan in the West Midlands, contributing eight goals and seven assists in 30 Championship appearances.
Partly due to the player’s contribution, the Baggies earned promotion back to the top flight for the upcoming season, but according to the podcaster, West Ham’s initial plans were to try and offload two other players. Here is what he had to say:
“The aim ideally was to sell Anderson and Lanzini. There’s been no offers for Anderson [or] Lanzini, rubbish reports in the press this week from Saudi Arabia and Turkey, which I’ve already denied, neither of which have been legitimate bids. They haven’t been able to move on Anderson and Lanzini. They’ve got interest in Diangana, so they’ve taken the decision to accept that offer.”
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Felipe Anderson’s average performance rating in the Premier League last season was 6.96/10 according to WhoScored.com, making him the club’s sixth-most consistent performer. His Transfermarkt value is £22.5m and so it could be argued he is somebody they could raise significant funds from.
As for Lanzini, his displays earned him an underwhelming rating of 6.55/10, which may have been a key factor when, according to @ExWHUemployee, the club decided it was time to try and move him on.