Running through the list of West Ham United’s most expensive-ever acquisitions, it’s safe to say that bona fide successes a la Jarrod Bowen are fairly few and far between.
Sitting second behind Michail Antonio now in the club’s all-time Premier League goalscoring charts, the Hammers skipper is one of relatively few ‘hits’; a lonely island in a sea of misses.
The jury is still out, of course, on Max Kilman, Jean-Clair Todibo, Luis Guilherme, Niclas Fullkrug and Crysencio Summerville.
Pablo Fornals will forever hold a place in the heart of West Ham United supporters. Lucas Paqueta has had his moments. Mohammed Kudus may be about to take the Marko Arnautovic route, however, and scrub away any goodwill with a controversial departure.
Kudus is in talks to join Tottenham Hotspur. Potentially, the first player to make such a switch since Scott Parker in 2011.
As for Sebastien Haller, Gianluca Scamacca, Edson Alvarez, Andre Ayew and Nikola Vlasic, the less said, the better.
And then there is Felipe Anderson; perhaps the big-money Hammers signing who promised the most yet delivered the least.
Darren Bent was so excited when West Ham United signed Felipe Anderson from Lazio
West Ham themselves described Felipe Anderson as ‘one of the most exciting talents in Europe’ upon his £36 million arrival from Lazio back in 2018. And they weren’t totally wrong either, even if such glowing praise feels a little misguided in hindsight.
Across his previous two Serie A seasons, Anderson had provided 16 assists. And there is always something extra glamorous about a Brazil international bringing his shimmering Samba swagger to British shores.
Though what would prove to be a highly underwhelming, extremely ineffectual stint in claret and blue can perhaps be summed up best by the nature of a discussion which took place on talkSPORT this week, between former England striker Darren Bent and host Andy Goldstein.
A conversation in which Goldstein had to be reminded of Felipe Anderson’s existence, let alone his Premier League past.
“Do you remember Felipe Anderson?,” Bent asked, a question which would incur plenty of head-scratching and presumably some frantic Wikipedia searching from the production staff.
“When he came, I remember thinking ‘what a signing’, and it just didn’t work for him.”
Anderson’s Palmeiras face Chelsea in Club World Cup quarter-final
An ingenious backheel finish against Manchester United and two glorious goals in a heroic display against Southampton were the undoubted highlights of a West Ham spell which started brightly but fizzled out quicker than a pound shop Bonfire display.
Perhaps his struggles can be explained rather simply by the fact that the rigours of English football are not for everyone.
Felipe Anderson was a man reborn back at Lazio once he had been firmly banished by David Moyes at the London Stadium.
Now 32 years of age and back in Brazil, the former Porto and Santos forward could yet add a Club World Cup crown to the trophies he collected at Lazio and Santos.
Felipe Anderson’s Palmeiras side face Chelsea in Saturday’s quarter-final.
And, despite the presence of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain in the last-eight, only the bravest of bookies would back against the Club World Cup’s remaining South American representatives in a summer of shocks.
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