Lazio forward Felipe Anderson has insisted re-joining Lazio from West Ham United was ‘one of the best choices’ of his life.
Anderson spent five years at Lazio after joining from Santo in a €7.5m deal, establishing himself as one of their key players in that period with a series of impressive performances.
It was those displays that saw West Ham come calling for him in July 2018, paying Lazio €38m for the Brazilian’s signature as they spent big under Manuel Pellegrini.
Anderson would enjoy a bright start to life at the London Stadium but was unable to build on it, slowly falling out of the side and favour.
He was eventually shipped off on loan to Porto in October 2020 but that loan spell would prove to be an unsuccessful one and he returned to West Ham in June 2021 before being sold back to Lazio in a €3m deal a month later.
His tally for West Ham was 73 games played, 12 goals and 13 assists, poor numbers considering the money they paid to take him to London.
He’s steadily been re-establishing himself at Lazio since, with six goals and eight assists in 38 league games in his first season and six and three in the league this year.
The Brazilian has not looked back since making the switch and insists that leaving West Ham to go back to his former club was a choice he does not regret.
“The learning process took about a year and a half when I arrived. It wasn’t easy for me,” Citta Celeste report him saying.
“The club always helped me by giving me confidence and that by working hard my potential would come out. And in the end, that is what happened. The second year was the best with the Lazio shirt, after a difficult period of adaptation.
“I had a lot of patience and in the end, I achieved what I wanted. I went through some difficult moments when I left.
“However, they helped me to grow, because professional and personal life cannot be separated. When things don’t go well at home it’s difficult to perform well on the pitch.
“Coming back to Lazio was one of the best choices of my whole life. Everyone wanted me to come back, this time it will be different.”
