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Arsenal: Hopefully Lucas Perez Will Not Emulate His Gunners’ Hero
Arsenal’s latest signing Lucas Perez has stated that his Gunners’ hero is Jose Antonio Reyes. Hopefully, he will not emulate the fellow Spaniard.
Arsenal have had many great players throughout the years. From the wonders of Alex James and Ted Drake in the ’30s to the modern pioneers of Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp, there is a host of wonderfully gifted players throughout the club’s history for fans to hail as their hero.
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Therefore, when someone picks out someone from left field, many expect it to be perhaps the unsung hero of the great sides of years gone by. Maybe Gilberto Silva, Ray Parlour or even Francis Coquelin. Few would anticipate Jose Antonio Reyes to set any hearts racing as an idol to aspire to emulate, and yet, he is exactly what the club’s latest addition hails as his Gunners’ hero.
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"“Well, obviously everyone knows about Arsenal’s legendary players, such as Henry and Bergkamp. I really admired Reyes, who’s a fellow Spaniard. [There’s} Pires, Vieira too… that was a wonderful time for Arsenal and everyone knows all those players. People know all about them in Spain and that history of having legends at the club is part of the reason Arsenal are so popular.’"
While Lucas Perez may see his compatriot as a hero to be admired, he would be better served not trying to emulate his predecessor. Bought as a talented youngster, Reyes was seen as the Pires replacement, though things never progressed quite as expected.
Reyes had a turbulent three seasons with the club, plagued by heavy bouts of homesickness throughout his time in North London. While he flashed some incredible ability in his short time, he ultimately was never able to forge a regular starting role for himself like the man Wenger hoped he would replace.
Perez is coming in, not to replace a legend like Perez, but rather to bring an essence of much-needed quality and depth to an attack that was relying on the talents of two spearheads in Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez.
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Whether Perez can bring an injection of pace and precision that the attack needs remains to be seen, but he will be looking to have a smoother and less troubled tenure than his hero, Jose Antonio Reyes.