Alex Beard

Fri 14 February 2020 11:51, UK

People don’t often place Juventus midfielder Aaron Ramsey and West Ham United playmaker Felipe Anderson in the same sentence.

There’s never really been a reason to. The Wales international is a world class central midfielder, whereas Anderson is a good, but inconsistent, wideman.

So they’re not natural bedfellows, far from it. However, with the speculation linking Ramsey with a move to Manchester United, Anderson’s name has somehow cropped up.

In his column for The Times earlier this week, former Republic of Ireland international Tony Cascarino said that United should sign Ramsey, and that he would likely only cost £20million.

Now, former Premier League winner Ray Parlour has used Anderson as an example of why signing Ramsey would be good value for money.

“You look at people like Anderson at West Ham, he was £40million,” he said on talkSPORT. “Would you rather have Anderson at West Ham or Ramsey?”

Host Alan Brazil quickly replied: “Well, Ramsey. But [when] Anderson came, people were raving about him, weren’t they?”

“I’d say Aaron’s in the £50million bracket,” Parlour replied.

Would you rather Ramsey at £50million or Anderson for £40million?

That’s a good question, and the X Factor is Ramsey’s fitness. If he’s guaranteed to be fit all season then you’d rather him, all day long.

However, that’s rarely been the case. Anderson – although he’s out at the moment – is typically available week in week out.

Still, you’d probably rather take the gamble on Ramsey for £10million more than Anderson, because he’s simply a better player.

Having said that, given that Juventus signed him for nothing, it would probably take less than £50million for Man United or anyone else to secure him.

In other West Ham news, Robbie Savage has predicted that the Hammers will suffer relegation this campaign.