West Ham United record signing Felipe Anderson wants to repay manager Manuel Pellegrini’s faith in him by performing in every game on the pitch for his Club.
Brazilian international Anderson signed a four-year deal with the Irons on Sunday, joining for a Club record fee, and is Pellegrini’s seventh acquisition of a busy summer at London Stadium.
The 25-year-old was one of the Chilean’s top targets in the transfer window and Anderson wants to thank his new manager for his desire to bring him to the Premier League.
And the forward knows the best way to do that is to give his all for the Hammers.
“I’ve still not had a chance to speak to him personally, but I’m really grateful to Manuel Pellegrini for believing in my qualities,” Anderson told West Ham TV.
“I hope I can repay his faith on the pitch, by scoring goals and giving my all every day, and I hope to speak to him soon and thank him personally.”
Anderson joins West Ham at the end of a week that also saw Jack Wilshere sign for the Club from Arsenal, while Andriy Yarmolenko also moved to the Irons from Borussia Dortmund.
Ryan Fredericks, Issa Diop and Lukasz Fabianski have also transferred to West Ham, and Anderson can see he has joined a team full of ambition.
“There’s no doubt that this is an exciting time to join West Ham,” the attacker continued. “I’d seen that the club had made theses signings and wanting to keep improving.
“I’m happy to be part of this project and I hope to get to know all these players soon, and all the staff members too so I can fit right in.”
For a young Felipe Anderson, the dream was to be a professional footballer. Growing up on the streets of Santa Maria, all he wanted to do was kick a ball around with his friends.
The new West Ham player is amazed by his own journey so far.
Anderson said: “Playing football was always something I loved from a very young age. We’d always play football to have fun. It was the only thing we could do. There were no other sports we could play.
“I then got more and more into it and, thanks to God, I’ve achieved my dream of becoming a footballer.
“The neighbourhood I grew up in was a really poor one, the people there were really humble but also really cheerful. This made me grow up a cheerful person, knowing that with the little we had we could be happy, and believing in our dreams.
“My family was always really humble and always encouraged me in everything I did. Everything in life that’s worth something is hard. I had to give up a lot of things, l had to give up being really close to my friends and family
“But being a football was something I dreamed of. It was worth it, and now I’m really happy and feel really fulfilled and ready for beginning a new adventure here at West Ham.
“I’m happy and working hard so that I can put a smile on the supporters’ faces.”