West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady shared that in her opinion the £41million signing of Felipe Anderson this summer signalled that the club can compete with the very best.
The businesswoman gave her verdict on the Hammers’ summer window ahead of her side’s Premier League opener against Liverpool on Sunday and highlighted the capture of the 25-year-old Brazilian winger.
Brady shared that in her opinion this summer was the Hammers’ most important one for years and that it was time to squash any negativity surrounding the club.
“Manuel Pellegrini has form, he is the first Premier League-winning manager to run our team, and we were one of the League’s biggest spenders in the transfer window,” wrote Brady in her column for The Sun.
“Manuel’s trusted ally Mario Husillos was brought in as director of football to over-see our player recruitment strategy.
“Since then, no fewer than ten new faces, seven of them between 21-28, have been added to the playing squad at a cost of almost £100million in transfer fees alone.
“The arrival of Brazilian playmaker Felipe Anderson for a club-record £41m is our signal that we can compete with the best.
“As we enter our third season here, it is time to put aside any negativity — and build on the home-ground advantage. This has been West Ham’s most important summer in years.”
OPINION
This is one of Brady’s most positive West Ham columns to date as there’s hardly a negative issue to address in sight. While the vice-chairman refers to the disappointment of last season, she focuses on the positivity that is currently surrounding the club ahead of the 2018/19 campaign. While a lot of this is clearly down to the amount of exciting new signings made by the club in the latest window, some of it is clearly down to the arrival of Manuel Pellegrini. The presence of the very successful football manager as soon as he arrived at the club seemed to instantly lift spirits following the woeful 2017/18 campaign. It feels like Pellegrini is simply the right man to take the Hammers forward and he appears to have been given the resources by the club to see out his ambitious vision for the London side. Hopefully all of his signings hit the ground running and he settles into life quickly at the London Stadium as that needs to happen for the club to justify their big spend this summer. The arrival of Anderson is a particular highlight and after a few glimpses of him in pre-season, it seems the Brazilian could be about to take the Premier League by storm.
