OPINION
West Ham attacker Lucas Perez stole the headlines against Cardiff City on Tuesday and as a result will likely finally be able to justify his bumper pay packet as an increased first-team role surely beckons.
The 30-year-old, who earns a whopping £80,000-a-week which makes him the club’s fourth highest earner according to Spotrac, scored twice in quick succession after replacing Marko Arnautovic during the clash with Neil Warnock’s side.
Perez’s two goals helped the Hammers achieve a comfortable 3-1 victory and move up the table as a result.
Ahead of the clash with the Bluebirds, it was hard to remember that the forward had joined the club in the summer from Arsenal as Manuel Pellegrini had only very rarely chosen to use him.
In fact before Tuesday’s clash with Cardiff, Perez had only played 107 minutes of Premier League action this season and hadn’t exactly made the most of his minutes previously.
When you consider during this period he was still picking up his bumper pay packet, his money to minutes ratio must have been mouthwatering.
Yet he will finally now justify his wage as not only is he oozing with confidence from grabbing a brace on Tuesday, Arnautovic is likely to make way for him in the team.
The Hammers’ star man limped off during Tuesday’s match with a suspected hamstring injury and according to the London Evening Standard that is looking likely to be enough to keep him out until 2019.
So when you consider that and the fact Pellegrini recently admitted that he felt the the team played well with two strikers, then Perez’s first-team role will improve for the next few weeks.
“In the end I went with two strikers and finally we played a very good,” the Hammers boss said as quoted by football.london.
This means Perez will finally be able to justify his bumper pay packet as not only will he be regularly featuring, hopefully based on his recent display, he’ll be scoring vital goals.
