Arsenal Interest in Felipe Anderson – Don’t Bother

Transfer season. Love it or hate it, we can’t avoid it.

At stages it has it us at fever pitch. Sometimes, vice versa. Then there are the head-scratching moments, devoid of any factual basis and regurgitated onto the rumour mill with the sole intention of garnering clicks. Speculation such as Felipe Anderson to Arsenal.

Most Premier League viewers will be familiar with the Brazilian*. His debut season with West Ham after arriving as the club’s record transfer was reason enough to take notice. Nine goals and four assists were a more than credible return, intermittently dotted in between some impressive individual displays.

*Remember that.

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Moving onto the most recent season, his form dipped drastically – as did the rest of the West Ham’s squad, admittedly – where he was used fleetingly from the halfway point onwards. Only four assists and one goal this time around – three of those assists came in the first seven games of the campaign.

But while Arsenal don’t get quite as heavily linked to every man and his dog as, say, Manchester United, we’re still fed some baffling transfer news has clearly come about as case of 1+1=3.

In this case, Football Insider claim Arsenal have made Anderson their “top target” to strengthen Mikel Arteta‘s attack.

Why, oh why, would they do that? The Gunners are, above anywhere else on the pitch, well stocked in attacking areas heading into 2020/21. Academy players coming through, those coming back from injuries, the ones already established there and yes, of course, the other forward already brought in this season: Willian.

At a point where the Brazilian contingent continues to grow in north London, and with Edu on the lookout for new targets, this appears to be a simple case of connecting dissimilar dots. Anderson is Brazilian, Edu is Brazilian, Arsenal have Brazilians…surely, they want more? Yeah, don’t bother.

Only if Anderson was a standout box-to-box midfielder who’d been courted by the club for months on end would this make any sense.

This, quite hilariously, is without mentioning the unavoidable fact that West Ham apparently want to recoup close to the £36m they forked out for 27-year-old two seasons ago. No disputing that is most likely the case, but can you see Arteta and Edu sat trawling over prayer profiles with coffee on tap, seeking out the best talents and stumping with Anderson? £36m-rated Anderson?

No, we can’t either.

Desperately trying to flog off any number of first team players to generate the funds for their actual targets, including long-serving Hector Bellerin, can you imagine the uproar if the Spaniard left for £35m, only to be replaced by Felipe Anderson. Wouldn’t sit right, would it?

This, however, is no knock on the forward. He had a poor season last term (all of West Ham did), yet on his day he can be lethal. That debut season in the Premier League really was quite superb, no disputing he has talent. But what he isn’t, is an Arsenal target.

Moving on.