OPINION
New West Ham recruit Lucas Perez has to hit the ground running at the London Stadium as it appears that he is going to be on a very lucrative contract.
The 29-year-old forward was confirmed as joining the Hammers by the club’s official website on Transfer Deadline Day and signed three-year contract upon joining.
Perez was believed to have cost the club only £4million (BBC) and that seemed to be a bargain price to pay in order for Manuel Pellegrini to boost his side’s attacking options.
The 29-year-old struggled to regularly feature at Arsenal but when you consider he scored seven, while assisting five, in the 21 appearances he made for the club then his statistics aren’t anywhere near being consider dreadful.
Given his low price tag, especially when you see the other inflated prices in the transfer market, Perez looked like a low risk signing capable of helping the Hammers’ cause.
However reliable club insider ExWHUemployee shared on Twitter ahead of Perez completing his move that his wages were suspected of being higher than Andy Carroll’s pay packet.
Do you know the details of the deal fella
— Tommy Hardy (@tommyquagmire) August 9, 2018
Large wages (more than Carroll) meaning the combined weekly wages of our four forwards (Arnie, Carroll, Hernandez, Perez) comes to around £460k per week (which is massive really) ⚒⚒ https://t.co/g87mPBTI9K
— ExWHUEmployee (@ExWHUEmployee) August 9, 2018
Carroll is believed to rake in an impressive £90,000-a-week (Source: Spotrac) which makes him the third-highest paid player at the London Stadium based on Spotrac’s information (thought the club’s summer recruits aren’t listed).
If Perez is set to be on a huge amount of money then the player needs to justify his pay packet as soon as possible by hitting the ground running.
When you consider he didn’t have the best of spells at the Gunners and that he is arguably at least the Hammers’ third-choice forward then he has done very well to get himself such a lucrative contract.
Therefore the Spanish forward must hit the ground running at the club as after previously looking like a bargain due to his price tag, his potential wages suggest he may end up being a costly outlay.
