West Ham United icon Trevor Sinclair has called for the immediate sale of Felipe Anderson amid reports linking the Brazil winger with a loan move to Arsenal.
Sinclair has been vocalising his dismay at the Irons’ decision to part with young forward Grady Diangana after the 22-year-old sealed a £12million move to West Bromwich Albion, rising to a potential £18m.
Anderson is another player facing an uncertain future at the London Stadium this summer as David Moyes attempts to free the club of those underperforming, but has so far failed to see any suitors arrive at the door looking to obtain our former club-record £41.5m man.
Had the decision been up to Sinclair, he would have favoured offering Diangana the chance to impress in claret and blue following his time on loan with the Baggies, for whom he struck eight goals and penned seven assists for over 30 Championship appearances last season on route to securing promotion to the Premier League.
“[Manuel] Lanzini, with his injuries, he’s probably not going to get back to that kind of level [shown before his serious knee injury in 2018],” Sinclair told talkSPORT (September 4, 09:20).
“I’d rather have Diangana. [Andriy] Yarmolenko, again, he’s had injuries. Would you continue with him or go for Diangana? I’d go for Diangana.
“And then Felipe Anderson was awful last season. The sooner you get him out the door, the better.”
Arsenal icon Ray Parlour further tore into Anderson in response to Sinclair’s statement, adding: “He goes missing. When things aren’t going well for you, you’ve got to dig in and help your teammates and do a little more work off the ball. He probably doesn’t do that, does he? He’s alright when you’ve got the ball!”
Will Anderson be at West Ham when the market closes?
Yes
No
Anderson could be offered a route out of West Ham by Arsenal, with the Gunners said to be looking at the 27-year-old as a potential offensive option as boss Mikel Arteta eyes cut-price deals.
His wage could prove a stumbling block as it is unclear who would be responsible for paying Anderson during what would be a season-long loan deal, understood to have been put to the Gunners at the request of a mere £5m.
It would seem unlikely that we accept a low offer for a loan transfer of Anderson rather than persist with a permanent sale, no matter how ‘awful’ he was last season or how frequently he went missing, as the club are reportedly set to use the funds raised from Diangana’s departure to strengthen our defence amid links with Burnley’s James Tarkowski.
The funds being used in defence rather than offence is alleged to have brought an end to our interest in Brentford’s Said Benrahma for the time being as we refuse to offer what the Championship side demand, and walking away from the Algerian after selling Diangana to only then allow Anderson to leave on loan would seem insane.
