It appears as if the Gunners have finally made a move for a center forward during the current summer transfer period. BBC have reported that Arsenal have met the release clause of about £17 million for Deportivo La Coruna forward Lucas Perez. Mirror have also claimed that the Spaniard arrived in England for a medical with the north London club on Friday. Barcelona and Everton both reportedly made attempts to sign Perez prior to the deal with Arsenal.
Along with the potential Perez deal, it is also being widely reported that Arsenal have secured the signing of Shkodran Mustafi as well. If both players are finalized with the Gunners, the team will have spent around £90 million total this summer on new signings.
While some are suggesting that Perez is a panic buy, Sky Sports La Liga analyst Guillem Balague has suggested that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has been watching the Deportivo forward for quite some time. “It’s clear Arsenal wanted Lacazette as their main striker,” Balague stated, “but when Lyon asked for €55m they looked somewhere else. [Arsenal] have been following Perez for a year.”
Balague was also full of praise for the new Arsenal signing. “[Perez] can play as a number nine or, more likely, on the right-hand side of attack,” said the Sky Sports pundit. “Someone who scores 17 goals in La Liga should be considered a top signing, especially when you consider Perez did that at Deportivo.”
Perez is what some would call a “late bloomer.” At 27, the 2015/16 season was the forward’s first and only campaign in which he bagged at least 10 league goals (for a senior team) during a single season. The Spaniard has previously played for the Atletico Madrid C team, Rayo Vallecano, Karpaty Lviv, Dynamo Kyiv, PAOK, and finally Deportivo.
Although some may see parallels between Perez and current Gunner Olivier Giroud due to both being labeled as late bloomers, the two have different styles of play. Perez is a fleet-footed forward that, as Balague stated, can be utilized as a center forward, secondary striker or on either wing. This versatility will benefit Arsenal immensely. When Giroud is playing well, Perez can be used out wide to give the Gunners a front three of Giroud, Perez and Alexis Sanchez. If the Frenchman is either injured or stuck in a bit of a rut, Wenger can throw out a very capable attacking trio of Perez, Sanchez, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
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Perez has also been compared to Leicester City forward Jamie Vardy. While the England international netted more goals than Perez during the 2015/16 season, the Spaniard racked up more assists, chances created, key passes, and had a better shot accuracy than Vardy on the campaign. One weak spot in Perez’s game, however, appears to be his ability in the air. With Deportivo last season, Perez won just 24% of his aerial duels.
Nevertheless, the soon-to-be 28-year-old looks to be a very capable plan B for Wenger and the Gunners. Though some Arsenal fans may be upset that they are not receiving a “world-class” player to man their attack, they are, however, potentially getting a proven La Liga goalscorer that can play all across their front line. Versatility can be key when a club has to play 50-55 total matches during a season.
