Felipe Anderson is willing to accept a marginal pay cut to help push through his return to Lazio from West Ham United this summer, according to Corriere dello Sport.
The Serie A outfit are striving to conclude a raft of cheap or free deals in time for the players to arrive during the first phase of pre-season training. And Anderson, plus Elseid Hysaj after leaving Napoli as a free agent, are expected to be the first to arrive.
Once Maurizio Sarri has strengthened the foundations at the Stadio Olimpico, the Italian will then turn to high-ticket options. But the former Chelsea manager still faces the prospect of selling one of his lucrative players to fund the rebuild.
Lazio already have an agreement in place with West Ham for the transfer of Anderson this summer. The Biancocelesti will pay €3m (£2.5m) for the Irons’ former record-signing, and will hand over 50% of any future fee. Calciomercato have also claimed those terms.
But pen is yet to hit paper, as the Brazilian earns £85,000-per-week at the London Stadium. Anderson is willing to accept a marginal reduction to his salary to re-join Lazio, however, which would bring short his spell at West Ham that begun in 2018 for £36m.
Anderson’s decision also takes the winger one step closer to realising his dream of returning to Lazio. Corriere dello Sport previously noted the two-cap international has longed to move back to Italy for the past year and he has already spoken to some of the Biancocelesti squad.
West Ham to lose a pocket wizard with Anderson re-joining Lazio
Anderson’s time as a West Ham man took a downward turn after David Moyes returned to the London Stadium. His impact on the pitch regressed rapidly from the lofty heights seen previously during his maiden campaign under Manuel Pellegrini.
But his ability to unpick a lock in a tight pocket remained impressive for those he played with. Anderson stunned Jarrod Bowen while training with the Lazio target following his move to West Ham last year.
“The skills he’s got are incredible,” Bowen told Sky Sports. “I think he was injured when I first came. But when he came back in training, the stuff he does in training – he’s so calm about it and makes it look so easy.
“In training, he nutmegs everyone. Luckily, I’m on his team for small-sided games normally, but he just nutmegs everyone. I don’t know how he does it, but he does it.”
But leaving Bowen stunned in training was not enough to keep Anderson at West Ham when he joined Porto on loan, and is seemingly not enough to prevent a return to Lazio.
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