West Ham United have been vying to make Lazio star Felipe Anderson their marquee summer signing.
West Ham co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold have been promising supporters the move to the London Stadium would enable them to compete in the transfer market for players of Felipe Anderson’s ilk.
But West Ham’s reported interest in £35 million rated Anderson – as reported by Sky Sports – has turned into something of a transfer saga between the Hammers and Lazio.
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There has been claim and counter claim about what stage the transfer is at with Tuttomercatoweb claiming the player was taking matters into his own hands by submitting a transfer request.
The deal is said to have dragged on as West Ham and Lazio have struggled to agree on the fee and terms.
That prompted criticism from some Hammers fans of Sullivan and Gold after two years of poor recruitment and what they see as a lack of ambition and spending.
And it appears the owners will have to come up with the money or move on to other targets if comments from Lazio’s president Claudio Lotito – as reported by Football Italia – are anything to go by.
Anderson is one of a host of Lazio stars being linked with big money moves away this summer and Lotito has told a press conference they do not need to sell in a passionate rant.
“We don’t have to sell in order to buy, that has to be made clear,” Lotito said, as reported by Football Italia.
“We have interest in our players from some of the big European teams, it seems everyone wants our players.
“They’ll have to find an agreement with the club though, I won’t do what my predecessors did and go cap in hand to other clubs, making Lazio a colony of those other clubs.
“Today there’s a boss, show me the money and you’ll see the camel. Conditions are set by those who sell, not those who buy. There’s no pressure, forget about it, only my doctor can measure pressure. We decide the conditions of any eventual exits, without intimidation.
“We don’t look for loopholes, we comply with national and international standards for the purpose of selling and buying players.
“If someone wants a Lazio player, or he wants to leave, you have to knock on our door. We’ll decide whether or not to open it, but a player will only leave under the conditions I want.
“If you don’t have the money, you can’t buy. It’s as simple as that.”
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