Exclusive: McAvennie takes swipe at Felipe Anderson with West Ham return on the cards
We’re delighted to welcome former West Ham United striker Frank McAvennie as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the London Stadium…
Frank McAvennie has taken a huge swipe at Felipe Anderson with the midfielder reportedly set to return to West Ham after a failed loan spell at Porto.
Anderson, 27, joined the Portuguese giants on a season-long loan deal in the summer but the Guardian reported this week that the Irons are exploring the possibility of terminating that agreement early and finding him a new club to go on loan to.
The Brazilian has made just five appearances for Porto and failed to start any of the nine league games he’s been available for.
According to statistics website Spotrac, Anderson’s contract at West Ham is worth £85,000-a-week and McAvennie believes the midfielder no longer cares about football due to the money he’s earned at the London Stadium.
“If Porto don’t want him and West Ham don’t want him, the boy’s got to take a good look at himself – unless he’s made that much money he doesn’t care anymore. That can happen because he’s on an extreme amount of money,” McAvennie told West Ham Zone.
“Listen, I don’t think he likes football, to be honest. I think he just wants to play because he makes that much money.
“When you love football, you’ve got passion for it and I don’t think the boys got it. I’m not doubting his ability but he’s just not got the passion for it.”
Anderson became West Ham’s record signing in 2018 when he joined the club in a £35million deal from Lazio.
He’s shown flashes of brilliance but on the whole, it would be fair to say that the one-time Brazil international has failed to live up to his price-tag.
Anderson’s loan spell in Portugal has been nothing short of disastrous.
Porto manager Sergio Conceicao questioned Anderson’s worth-ethic at the club in October and with the playmaker not featuring in any of his matchday squads in the league since October 30, it seems as though he’s failed to prove Conceicao wrong.
David Moyes, David Sullivan and David Gold have a big decision to make on Anderson’s future at the London Stadium this year because if they keep loaning him out, he’s only going to keep coming back unless he really bucks up his ideas.
It would best for all parties if he’s sold but the club has already taken a big hit on Sebastien Haller’s exit to join Ajax.
They’ll probably have to take an even bigger hit on Anderson due to how badly he’s done at Porto.
In other West Ham news, Irons-linked Marcus Edwards has shut down transfer speculation by signing a new contract at his club.