Speaking to Italian newspaper Il Messaggero, the sister and agent of long rumored Manchester United transfer target Felipe Anderson has said that her brother will not be leaving Lazio this summer.
Nothing is concrete
When asked about the future of Felipe Anderson at Lazio Juliana Gomes bluntly said, "My brother won’t be leaving Rome during next summer."
Anderson himself has been coy over the past year about any move he might potentially make. He has been playing down any imminent moves as "rumours that circulate in the newspapers" and that "they [the newspapers] often write about my possible departure" but for the moment "I'm staying [at Lazio]." Despite this, the attacking midfielder has acknowledged that "there’s nothing concrete."
Lazio regrets not moving on Anderson sooner
Anderson has long been a transfer target for Manchester United, with talks apparently ongoing since last summer in which United launched a £37.6m bid that was turned down. Lazio sporting director Igli Tare said after the past January transfer window that “it could’ve been a mistake not to sell anyone" especially after the Roman side's struggles this year will cause them to miss out on both the UEFA Champions League and Europa League. Lazio had goals of building like that "Napoli side of a few years ago" and that retaining Anderson was because "we strongly wanted to give consistency to this project."
Tare especially ruminated on the fact that United did not launch a second bid for Anderson this past January as the player only contributed nine goals and five assists in 45 competitive games. Compared to the year before in which Anderson contributed 10 goals and nine assists in 27 games as Lazio finished in third in Serie A and lost in the Italian Cup final to Juventus. The Brazilian joined Lazio in 2013 and signed a contract extension in 2015 till 2020.