Felipe Anderson was scouted by West Ham before Manuel Pellegrini joined the Hammers.

Claret and Hugh have been told by Hammers sources close to the that the Brazilian was recommended to the club by an agent who claimed he had the potential to become better than Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah. A very bold claim indeed!

Contacting us by e mail we were told that the club y sent out scouts to watch the Lazio player and compiled a report on the 25-year-old.

Later Pellegrini joined West Ham as manager and immediately made Anderson his number one target. Luckily the club already had a head start as they held a comprehensive dossier on the attacking midfielder having watched him a number of times.

There have been those who have doubted Anderson’s abilities after a slow start this season but in reality, he just needed time to adjust and adapt to his new life in the Premier League.

The agent who first introduced him to West Ham was never in any doubt and still believes he can become one of the stars of the Premier League.

West Ham Vice-Chairman Karren Brady has confirmed that the new mostly Claret pitch surround is finally about to be ordered and will installed next year in the second half of the season.

Speaking to members of the newly formed West Ham United Supporters Board and recorded in the minutes “Karren Brady went onto confirm that the Club had received samples of the new claret pitch surround in 4G material and it was expected to be ordered imminently and laid during the second half of the campaign”

In October this year, Karren Brady revealed West Ham have reached an agreement with the London Legacy Development Corporation over the pitch surround at the London Stadium. In a London Assembly meeting, Brady said that the surround would be mostly claret, with ‘London Stadium dark blue’ also incorporated alongside a West Ham badge.

The Stadium originally wanted to charge the Hammers £300,000 per year for a mostly Claret pitch surround but the Hammers offered the one-off cost of £380,000 to purchase it and maintain it.  A compromise was reached but has not been made public by either side.

Manuel Pellegrini has made it clear that Declan Rice remains some way from the finished article and has some improvement to fins.

Despite the 19 year old being and remaining the talk of the London Stadium, the manager believes he still he needs to learn.

The manager’s assessment of players is not something with which many would argue after seeing the likes of Felipe Anderson, Robert Snodgrass, Fabian Balbuena and Issa Diop develop this term and if he reckons the teenager is a on a learning curve and that he must improve there’s little point in arguing.

Dec is naturally a central defender so it comes with the territory that as good as he may be slotting into the role of  defensive midfielder needs great craft and guile.

And whilst the manager admits he’s an admirer of the player he has had no hesitation in making his points about  his game is at the moment.

Pellegrini started by declaring on www.whufc.com:”Declan has a great future adding: “He’s a very mature player for 19-years-old and it’s not easy. He needs to learn a lot about how to play better in that position.

“But in every ball, he gives his all for 95 minutes. He has good recovery and a good technique, so I think we are seeing a player who we will talk about a lot in the future years.

“I think that he must try to have a better technique. He plays in a tactical position, maybe the most tactical position on the team because he must be involved in defending and covering all the space in front of the defensive line and on the other side he must adapt with good technique.

“I think he must have both things and he will do it better with every game he plays.

“Every player who is here has good people around them. As with every player, I think he must continue to try and improve with every game he plays.”

“I think he has a very good relationship with me and he understood I was just arriving and we needed to make a change and he didn’t have any problem.”

Robert Snodgrass knows more about football’s tough times than most so knows what Felipe Anderson has been going through until the last handful of games.

The Scot’s recent history is well known but he has handed the mishaps and insults with fantastic dignity losing weight along the way and having Manuel Pellergrini admit that he had been forced to change his mind about him.

Not only has he emerged as a key Hammers player during the current campaign – gaining his reward with a fabulous goal on Saturday – but he is also a great front man whenever he offers his view at events affecting the club.

He is very well liked indeed among the squad and having been around a long time he knows a player when he sees one.

Such is the case with Felipe Anderson who is emerging as the ace in the Hammers pack with every game he plays.

“He is always in the gym, trying to do better, trying to learn better English.,” Snoddy told the Evening Standard. “He is a good professional, it is a simple as that.

“He had a few games that he found a little bit difficult but he battled through it. He is working so hard to do what he is doing week in, week out.

I am happy for him and long may it continue. He is a good lad. It is great to see him scoring goals because he is a terrific talent.”

Declan Rice has been in extraordinary form this season looking as fit as it gets in match after match.

But his manager is not fooled and recognises the 19 year old midfielder may not be able to go on and on for the rest of the season.

So far this term Dec has appeared in 16 games and has been at the centre of regular controversy over his international destination and when he may sign a new deal at the club.

None of this has fazed him as he has gone about his business in compelling fashion and approaching his issues away from the field of play with very real professionalism

However, his manager is aware that there will come a point where the youngster will need to be rested if he is not to lose an edge.

Who slots into his role will have to remain a mystery for now but the message has to be given everything ‘Trust Pellegrini’ who told www.whufc.com: “I think he deserves to play in every game.

“In December when we have to play seven games and January when we have to play another six, in some games maybe he will have to rest, but he is 19 years old and at that age you are never tired.

West Ham’s Reece Oxford is being regularly scouted by Bundesliga clubs but currently there is no interest from the Premier League.

Reports have emerged that the Under 23s captain has attracted scouts from Manchester City but that was denied by a top club insider to ClaretandHugh via text who revealed all the scouting interest was coming from Germany.

Oxford is no longer a part of the manager’s first team plans who made it clear in a recent statement that his future would be decided dependent on how the central defender responded.

But the reality both Oxford himself and the club are agreed that a move will be on and the Bundesliga is looking his best bet of making that happen.

Had David Moyes not recalled him to the club last season whilst he was on loan at Borrusia Monchengladbach a deal could have been on and the player was reportedly upset when he was called back.

It was something any responsible manager would have done as he looked at every member squad but it may well have interrupted the progress he was making.

We understand among the clubs interested in perhaps making a move for him are Gladbach, FC Leipzig and Hoffenheim but any who wish to make a move will need to make it a  permanent arrangement as neither Oxford or West Ham are interested in a loan deal.

 (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Declan Rice is commanding a comfortable leader in the Hammers Player of the season so far launched by ClaretandHugh.

We want to know who is the top man so far this term and as a result has a big chance of ending the season as Hammer of the year.

And so far Declan is clear of his nearest pursuers by a pretty clear margin after a campaign which has seen him barely putting a foot wrong.

We only launched the poll lat on Sunday evening and already over 1500 of you have voted and put Declan into top position with 548 votes or 34.68 per cent of the vote.

Currently in second is Lukasz Fabianski who has collected 366 votes with 22.78 per cent of the poll and Robert Snodgrass will be delighted to find himself in third position with 260 voted or 16.46 per cent.

Among the rest Felipe Anderson has fourth place with 154 votes or 9.75 per cent.

The poll will close this evening at 6 pm so get voting @ https://www.claretandhugh.info/poll-who-is-your-west-ham-player-of-the-season-so-far/