‘I’m fast and clever enough to avoid getting a hammering,’ vows £40m man Anderson

MANUEL PELLEGRINI’S admission that he tried to sign Felipe Anderson to boost his Manchester City side that won the Premier League tells you how much he rates him.

On arriving as manager of West Ham at the end of May, Pellegrini (below) again made Anderson his top transfer target four years on from winning the title with City.

He got his wish as West Ham broke their transfer record to sign the 25-year-old from Lazio in a deal worth £40million.

The winger was Pellegrini’s seventh signing, taking his spending to more than £90m.

And it took Anderson just three minutes of yesterday’s friendly against Ipswich at Portman Road to open his account, heading home in a 2-1 win for the visitors.

Anderson’s journey began in Santa Maria in Brazil. Aged 13, he joined Santos, the club whose academy is seen as a route to stardom, with Neymar and Philippe Coutinho just two of its former players. The aim for many, though, is to play in Europe where their profile and wages are higher than in Brazil. ‘My dream was always to be the best in the world. Now I am here, where I always dreamed of playing, and I want to show my value in one of the best leagues in the world,’ said Anderson. His signing has been greeted with excitement in east London. Paolo Di Canio, Carlos Tevez and Dimitri Payet were all overseas players who became cult heroes in the claret and blue. Can Anderson be one too?

‘Yes. Everyone says that I have the ability to be the protagonist in whichever team I am playing for,’ he said.

‘My game is about dribbling, but also I want to concentrate on the team aspects of the game — marking, regaining possession. My aim is to do those necessities, but also to become a highlight going forward.’

Chelsea’s Willian, a friend of Anderson’s, has already warned him that the Premier League is very physical and he may find himself on the end of a few hard tackles. That doesn’t worry him.

‘I understand that this league is very different to Italy, which is more technically and tacticallybased,’ he said. ‘People use a lot of strength here, a lot of force. I am going to play above it. I am fast, I am going to use my intelligence. I will work hard to deal with it.’