West Ham have applied for a work permit for Lazio forward Felipe Anderson after making a breakthrough in talks with the Serie A side, claims The Daily Mail.
The Hammers announced the arrival of Borussia Dortmund winger Andriy Yarmolenko on Wednesday morning and are now close to bolstering their offensive options further.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side have been locked in talks with Lazio for the last month and talks appeared to have gone cold after other targets started to emerge for the east London outfit.
However, West Ham are close to agreeing an initial £37m fee with Lazio with add-ons that will take the total amount up to £40m.
The Premier League side were hoping to secure Anderson’s services for much less than that but are now so confident of getting a deal over the line they have already applied for a work permit for the Brazilian.
Anderson will be West Ham’s sixth signing of the summer and his arrival will shatter their club-record fee for a player, set by Marko Arnautovic’s £25m transfer from Stoke 12 months ago.
The 25-year-old missed the first half of last season through injury and failed to win back his place in the starting XI upon his return.
Anderson made 21 league appearances in total last season but was limited to just nine starts in that period. Despite a lack of regular playing time, he still managed a direct hand in 11 goals (four assists, seven assists).
Furthermore, Anderson required the fewest minutes per successful dribble (25+ attempted) in Serie A last season (1 every 14.8 minutes of action).
