West Ham are looking into ending Felipe Anderson’s unproductive spell at Porto and attempting to protect the Brazilian winger’s value by finding him a new loan club.
Anderson has struggled since joining Porto on a season’s loan in October, making three appearances in all competitions for the Portuguese champions. It is believed Porto’s manager, Sérgio Conceição, had reservations about signing the 27-year-old.
West Ham will look to sell Anderson in the summer and could struggle to extract a high price if he has barely played this season. If his spell at Porto is cut short, Anderson could join another European club on a temporary basis this month, with a permanent move unlikely.
West Ham broke their transfer record when they signed Anderson from Lazio for £37m in the summer of 2019. He impressed in his first season, scoring 10 goals in all competitions as Manuel Pellegrini led the club to 10th place in the Premier League.
However, Anderson’s star waned as performances deteriorated last season and he found himself out of favour when David Moyes replaced Pellegrini as West Ham’s manager in December 2019. He ended the campaign with one goal and found himself on the bench as Moyes saved West Ham from relegation.
West Ham were ready to sell Anderson last summer but the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic meant buyers were thin on the ground for a player who earns around £115,000 a week.
The club have considered an audacious loan move for Marko Arnautovic, who left them for the Chinese Super League side Shanghai SIPG in controversial circumstances 18 months ago. However, the Austrian forward’s £300,000-a-week wages mean a reunion is highly unlikely.