OPINION
West Ham United need to bolster their attacking lineup this summer and Arsenal’s Lucas Perez would be a good addition.
Big clubs have got a habit of buying players, not giving them a chance and then they’re surprised that the career of the player stalls and they lose confidence. That’s exactly what’s happened to Arsenal forward Lucas Perez.
In the 2015/16 season, in a poor Deportivo La Coruna team, Lucas Perez scored 19 goals and provided 11 assists in just 39 games in all competitions (TransferMarkt). This form triggered a whole host of clubs being interested in the Spaniard and eventually, The Gunners won the race.
The North London club spent £12.6million pounds to bring him to The Emirates in 2016, only to give him a total of just 22 appearances in all competitions and yet, he still scored eight goals and provided six assists (TransferMarkt). But that wasn’t good enough.
He was sent back to Deportivo on-loan last season, their team was really poor and they were eventually relegated from La Liga, but Perez still managed to score nine goals and provide eight assists in 37 appearances (TransferMarkt). A very decent record in such a poor side.
Now, the 29-year-old’s career is in limbo. He’s back at Arsenal but doubts remain if he’s going to be part of their squad for the upcoming Premier League season.
West Ham would be the perfect place for him to kickstart his career, under a manager that will play the style of football that suits him and will give him regular game time. He’s a quality finisher, with a great left-foot and his movement is excellent. The signing shouldn’t cost too much financially as Arsenal may want him to leave anyway and they didn’t pay an astronomical fee in the first place.
This signing would be a bit left-field, but new Hammers manager Manuel Pellegrini could revive Lucas Perez’s career and West Ham will get the benefit of a great goalscorer.
