When Felipe Anderson arrived at West Ham United in July 2018, he settled in quickly, enjoying a promising first season, netting ten times for his new side.
The Hammers had paid a club record £36million to bring the Brazilian to east London from Lazio and these early performances saw him become a fan favourite.
One of the seasons for this strong early start was the formidable partnership with formed with another Irons forward.
Anderson on his Arnautovic partnership
Austrian international Marko Arnautovic arrived at West Ham in 2017 following a four-season spell at Stoke City, and his Premier League experience quickly impressed Anderson.
“Marko Arnautovic has great pace and excellent technique, and I really clicked with him on the pitch,” the Brazilian tells FourFourTwo when asked to name his best team-mate at the club. “He stood out a lot, both in training and in games.”
Arnautovic would leave the club at the end of the 2018/19 campaign for Chinese Super League side Shanghai Port in a £22million move, with Anderson’s performances dipping the following campaign, as he would find the back of the net just once during the disrupted 2019/20 campaign.
He would then head to Porto on loan in October 2020, before returning to Lazio in a permanent move the following summer.
But as Anderson looks back at his time in London, he is able to appreciate the relative anonymity he enjoyed away from the football pitch during his time in the UK.
“Sometimes, when the traffic was bad, my family and I would take the tube to go out for dinner or afternoon tea, with the rain falling outside [laughs],” he continues.
“That was probably the most London thing I did. I’m a homely person, so I spent most of my time at our place in Canary Wharf. I was hardly ever recognised on the tube!
“That freedom was nice – something you don’t usually have in a footballer’s life.”
