West Ham sold Felipe Anderson back to Lazio in the summer of 2021 after he struggled during the latter stages of his career at the London Stadium.
The Hammers signed the 28-year-old from Lazio in the summer of 2018 for a then club record £36 million (BBC).
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Anderson enjoyed a fine debut campaign with West Ham, bagging 10 goals and five assists (Transfermarkt).
His form began to nose-dive during the second-half of the 2019/20 campaign, however.
Many accused Anderson of lacking the intensity, aggression and physical strength to cope in the Premier League. Was it more just a case of David Moyes not using him correctly though?
Felipe Anderson in fine form after West Ham exit last year
The Brazilian winger looks like his old self again for Lazio.
He has bagged nine goals and nine assists in 57 games for the Italian outfit since returning to Rome from London (Transfermarkt).
West Ham sold Anderson for just £4 million according to Tutto Mercato Web – a £32 million loss on what we paid for him four years ago.
That is obviously shocking business from the club.
And Anderson’s fine recent form for Lazio makes that deal look even worse.
Sure, he wasn’t performing at his best during his final 12 months in East London. But maybe, just maybe, Moyes wasn’t getting the best out of him by tasking him with being a winger who tracks back at every opportunity.
The amount of times that the Brazilian had to help out Aaron Cresswell in his final season was beyond a joke.
The 29-year-old is now showing his true class once again in a Lazio shirt.
Perhaps West Ham would have been better off keeping Felipe Anderson and trying to get the best out of him.
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