During his time at West Ham United, Felipe Anderson could polarise opinion. However, now that the 29-year-old is arguably outperforming his former team-mate Jarrod Bowen, David Moyes may well be regretting the Brazilian’s departure.
Should West Ham have sold Felipe Anderson?
The Hammers signed the tricky winger from Lazio in 2018 in a then club-record deal worth £36m but like many other attacking additions at the London Stadium, he perhaps failed to live up to expectations in the English capital.
In total, the former Brazil international made 73 appearances in West Ham colours, in which he contributed just 12 goals and 13 assists, the vast majority of which came in his debut Premier League campaign.
He struggled to replicate those numbers in his second season with the club, managing just one goal and four assists in 25 Premier League appearances before a loan move to Porto during the 2020/21 campaign.
Moyes felt that it was necessary to cash in on the winger as he targeted new signings in 2021 and Anderson was sold back to Lazio for just £4m, who were probably laughing all the way to the bank after making a £32m profit in what essentially constituted a three-year loan spell away from Italy.
Is Anderson better than Bowen?
Anderson has quickly rediscovered his goalscoring form with Maurizio Sarri’s side, notching 15 goals and 14 assists across the last two seasons, including six goals and three assists in Serie A so far this term.
This has helped him to earn a strong 7.05 rating from WhoScored for his performances in Italy’s top flight and ranks him a long way ahead of Bowen, who has struggled for form this season after a superb 2021/22 campaign.
The former Hull City man has just four goals and one assist in 23 Premier League appearances this season, with WhoScored awarding him a disappointing 6.70 rating for his performances in the top flight.
He has also averaged far fewer dribbles (0.7 vs 1.2), passes (20.2 vs 33.5) and tackles (1.3 vs two) per game than Anderson, which suggests that the Brazilian could still have offered plenty in Moyes’ side.
While the 29-year-old could have been criticised as being a flair player who didn’t work hard enough, the praise that he received from former Barcelona winger and Lazio team-mate Pedro in 2021 suggests that he was perhaps harshly judged and actually works just as hard off the ball as he does when in possession
Pedro said of the former Irons ace: “It is not easy today to interpret that role. Felipe Anderson played a perfect game, fighting, running, recovering balls, and doing all that had to be done.”
His goal return in his debut season in the Premier League suggests that Anderson was unfairly treated by Moyes; and considering his form compared with that of West Ham’s attackers this season, which sees the Hammers ranked as one of the lowest-scoring teams in the English top flight, perhaps the Irons manager is regretting his decision to sell the Brazilian so cheaply in 2021.