Lucas Perez’s Arsenal adventure could be over inside a year if reports in Spain are to be believed.
As has been well documented, the Spanish striker was less than impressed by his lack of game time in his debut season at the Emirates and is said to be on the lookout for a club in his homeland.
The 28-year-old, who signed last August, made just 18 appearances in all competitions last season despite scoring seven goals and contributing six assists.
While a return to former club Deportivo La Coruna is the player’s preference (La Voz de Galicia claim the club’s board is doing its best to raise the necessary funds) Sport claim both Sevilla and Espanyol are also keeping tabs on his situation.
On the verge of signing Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon, it’s believed the Gunners are willing to let Lucas leave the club this summer for around €15 million, even though the futures of Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud are in doubt.
In the meantime, Lucas is expected back at London Colney for pre-season training in the coming days and could partake in the tour of Australia and China.
Sad to see him go.Never given a string of games to show his worth. His injuries didn’t help his case but another player who fizzled out at the Emirates.Good luck out there Lucas.
And the curse of the number 9 continues
he’s not french…
and i am worried about the lack of rumors or news on us selling whalcott
Is that Theo’s fat cousin?
I maybe in the minority but I would rather have Giroud than Lucas. Can play in more positions in the 3-4-3, fits the Arsenal style of play better, is younger & in my opinion a better player than HFB.
Giroud is not younger… Giroud is 30.
That is what he said
No it’s not.
“is younger & in my opinion a better player than HFB” The problem is that the Two sentences contradict each other.
Fully agree. Pacier, more agility (that is what you meant he fits our play better I guess 🙂
But are you not contradicting yourself? ?
Insert “sorry for bad english”
I think he meant to say ‘Lucas rather than Giroud,’
But I agree, I would keep this guy around, I think he could be class if we gave him a run of games.
How is he better than HFB?
Giroud is clinical (particularly compared to Welbeck)
Plus he adds strength and presence in the box for us which we need at times.
AND he is an enabler.
Granted Lucas has looked decent coming on for us and also provides but he does not give us the dimension OG does nor any other player in the squad save possibly Welbeck whom as mentioned, is wasteful despite ‘pace’.
I disagree about The HFB having strength. Too often he gets pushed around and ends up on his arse complaining he’s been fouled.
Sanchez, Ibrahimovic and Costa end up on the ground complaining a lot too, but nobody suggests they lack strength. Giroud is strong. His problem is that he isn’t a skilled enough actor to benefit from going down easily.
Did you have this in reverse? Lucas is younger than Giroud. For the record I agree. I like Giroud too but for 30m he can go
You mean you’d rather have Lucas than Giroud? Judging by your reasoning.
We need 3 strikers for all our competitions (and inevitable injuries) this season. Who will they be? Lacazette, presumably welbeck, but we can’t sell both perez and giroud…
Walcott will soon announce his eternal desire to play centre forward, citing temporary madness when previously laying claim to the right wing role.
“that was last season! Can’t you see, there’s something new and fresh about Walcott 2018!”
This is starting to get as ridiculous as watching politics on the tube.
Don’t understand why Welbeck a striker who doesn’t score enough is safe whereas a player who scored 7 in 18 games has to go. Welcome to Wengerland.
Welbeck offers you more then just goals – he stretches teams and allocates space for others to find the scoring opportunities. I think at times Giroud’s selection has genuinely cost us results because he is very easy to isolate last year away at Spurs, Chelsea, Liverpool come to mind. If you cant get somebody close to Giroud then he literally cant do anything at all. Whereas Danny you can – you can fire long balls at him when we are under pressure. He also offers the stick or twist option for defenders marking him. They cant get too tight otherwise… Read more »
Do we need to have a CF to play this role? Iwobi too does it well.
Complete nonsense. Bc so does Giroud. He starts ahead of Lacazette for a reason for France. 16 goals in 16 competitions but he is also an enabler. Welbeck for all his ‘pace’ is wasteful. Giroud ‘s touch is at times sublime and he has been the catalyst to many brilliant assists. Just think of the layoffs to Jack against Norwich some years back for a start. In the scorpion kick goal, Giroud starts the move from inside our half and finishes it in the Palace box. Lack of pace? Much of this is nonsense. Yes maybe he is slower but… Read more »
I generally agree with this, but the thumbs-up was because it was much shorter than average.
@ A different George.
Ouch!
Thank you! He has excellent poaching instinct, and we have witnessed how he’s grown over four years in that regard too. He has only become more efficient. His strengths have helped mainstay our team while he’s been here, and I often feel that people simply underrate how important he is to our side.
That being said there are always times when we want more pace instead. This is why we need two strikers at least, and the sun rises, and (insert cliche blah blaaaahhhseptember where art thou)
I really like what Wellbeck brings, but justifying him as a CF with “Wellbeck offers more than goals” is a bit like arguing on behalf of a keeper who can organize a wall and distribute the ball but is a bit shit at making saves. In other words, nonsense.
With a comment like that you’re obviously blind to the very reason Welbeck is in the squad and was favoured over Giroud and Lucas at the tail end of the season. He is fantastic off the ball! His runs both back when defending and cutting out angles, and attacking when pulling defenders all over the place and hence creating pockets of space for Ozil,Alexis and the full backs was a major reason that the new formation and cup final success. In my mind I would choose him every single day over anyone in last seasons squad up front. Bar alexis… Read more »
thats probably one of the reasons perez wants to go, when hes played hes been involved in goals, yet still doesnt get the chances, if wenger is gonna actually give him games we should try and persuade him to stay
You’re forgetting Mbappe.
Treated pretty harshly I think, should have got more of a run based on what we say of him when he did play. Leaves us needing another striker too if Oli and Alexis leave
Have we been relegated? Do we need money? I don’t get it.
I have a real suspicion that buying him was based on the analytics, rather than Wenger’s decision and that Wenger never thought he was quite good enough.
Arsene will be dumb to let HFB leave. Good luck Perez and hope you find a club that gives you more playtime.
He got lots of that at Arsenal, I gather he was quite the Lego expert by the end of the season.
Shame he didn’t get more time on the pitch.
I’d much rather we keep Perez as opposed to the HFB. Unlike Giroud, Perez hasn’t had a fair crack.
Giroud had too many chances, almost 4 seasons he was our no 1 striker and I don’t think he ever was at the needed level. Perez on the other hand never really got a chance. I’d also rather keep him than Giroud.
Your argument doesn’t make any sense. Giroud performed consistently according to his level in his time at arsenal (season by season). Yes he is not a world beater, but he is a proven goal scorer. Why wpuld arsenal prefer to keep an unknown entity of around the same age, who might not be as consistent
In: The Casette, one of Lemar/Mahrez Out: Alexis, Ox, Campbell, one of Giroud, Lucas or Walcott Overall negative balance. I think Alexis is gone, I think Özil will stay at least this season if not extend in January for another 3 years. At this point I think keeping Ox would be a bonus, but fear he’s off too. Would definitely prefer to move on Walcott for 30m and keep Giroud (plan B) + Lucas, however realistically Lucas is practically a goner. If Alexis, Ox, Campbell and another player go (Giroud or Walcott) then surely Lucas stays because we need the… Read more »
Same here 🙂
I’d sleep over there 2 months as it’s just too much. But I agree with you, although can’t imagine any club paying 30M for Walcott, can you really?
I’d sign Casette and Mahrez, keep Lucas and give him many chances in EL and when needing to rest any of the front 3 (presuming we’ll stay with 5-2-3 formation)
No club is paying £30m for Walcott. Seriously, name a club that can afford him at that price, on his wages, that need his particular skillset. Everton maybe? Who else?
West Ham. Southampton.
send him back to Southampton, and ask for a full refund
In the post about Giroud yesterday, everybody was keeping Giroud. In this one about Lucas everybody is keeping Lucas.
Welcome to Fanland!
Adios Amigo
I think he could easily make a good career elsewhere
I would rather keep Giroud and Lucas as second and third options as they are proven goal scorers. We surely cannot go all season with Lacazette and Welbz as only strikers. I really rate Danny, but he is just not that goal scoring beast we need, not to mention his injury history.
Although if we should fail to keep Ox, he may very well be a considered asset for us on the wings particularly if we can add and sort out midfield. Which is likely why Espanyol are keeping tabs at the moment, we haven’t exactly relinquished him yet. What many continue to fail to understand every summer transfer is that it isn’t as simple as just tabling bids. The club needs to be ready to move the player on (particularly if still on contract) That is dependent on several factors. An attractive bid is one thing but the club (and it… Read more »
Any player who fears competition should not even be in the squad. The club does not have to devise a strategy to keep them.
He was a very good insurance cover for striking options. Something AW was always criticized for. He did good and acted with dignity without creating dress room fuss. Hope we get decent returns and wish him luck.
We have been crying out for a complete reshuffle of our squad for some time now. Unfortunately that includes players some people might like and those we dislike. But ultimately this squad combined hasn’t been able to sustain a title challenge for years now. I for one would love to see Sanchez stay and one or two more of the core stay but outside of that I think everyone is fair game… If the Ox, Giroud, Lucas, Gibbs, Walcott people of that level go I wouldn’t bat an eyelid. Some players are too comfortable at the club and it would… Read more »
I’m sure he would be happy to stay if he had been given the amount of games squad players expect to get.
Makes sense, Lacazette will now get the number 9 jersery 🙂
It’d be nice to sell him and get a backup like Loic Remy, if we can convince Chelsea
A little disturbing that all the tattle is about good players leaving (Ox, Olli, Alexis, Özil & Perez) and virtually nothing about players we should be off-loading (Walcott, Gibbs, Debuchy, Wilshere, etc.). At this pace there isn’t time for the reshuffle/rebuild we’ve been promised.
This
This guy has never been given a fair crack of the whip. You have to wonder what goes through the manager’s head when a guy who rarely plays makes a real impact whenever he does get a game. This guy scores, makes an assist or heavily influences play whenever he does get on. His record speaks for itself and he puts other more favoured players to shame when records are compared. Just don’t understand Wenger’s thinking on this. I wish him all the best at his new club. Such a shame.
I agree with the thought that Perez will be sold if possible especially if we get Lacazet. Perez was bought to plug the gap in the CF position but as soon as Welbeck was fit he was dropped. Girod has recently signed a new deal but has publicly said he would like more playing time. This is probably due to the world cup next year. Trying to debate who is the better CF between all 3 is mute as Perez is definately number 3 in Wengers mind and will be sold for the right price. I am greedy and would… Read more »
Lucas has been impressive for us whenever he plays but this season the problem is that he has too many injuries and lots of competition in his position arsene wenger was choosing iwobi instead of him so this season he didn’t have chance but if we didnt sign or add players in transfer window then he will get chance next season despite competition for places and he also suits our 3-4-3 formation as he can play in front three.he can be good temporary replacement if Sanchez leaves.