Pain in the Arsenal
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Arsenal: Arsene Wenger’s Lucas Perez sympathy simply hogwash

By Josh Sippie

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 11: Lucas Perez of Arsenal crosses under pressure form Sam Habergham of Lincoln during the match between Arsenal and Lincoln City at Emirates Stadium on March 11, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 11: Lucas Perez of Arsenal crosses under pressure form Sam Habergham of Lincoln during the match between Arsenal and Lincoln City at Emirates Stadium on March 11, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images) /
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Arsenal found a slick signing in Lucas Perez, but have gone on to let him disappear into obscurity. Whatever sympathy Arsene Wenger has is moot.

Arsenal desperately needed a striker this past summer, with Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud set to miss the beginning of the season and Danny Welbeck out indefinitely. With no big name strikers on the move, Arsene Wenger invested in an under-the-radar choice in Lucas Perez.

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The results have been superb from a production standpoint. When he has been used, he has showcased excellent creativity, a wonderful link-up ability, and enough promise to merit a chunk of playing time. He also managed to improve after each and every appearance, which is such a positive sign.

Yet Wenger never used him, frustrations came to the forefront, and here we are, four matches from the close of the season and Lucas rightfully wants out.

But hold the phone, Lucas’s agent! Would it make you feel any better if you knew that Wenger felt sorry for your client? Here, take a look at what Wenger had to say when asked if Lucas should play more, as quoted by SkySports:

"Yes, of course. He’s a top-quality striker and I couldn’t give him the games that he wants and that he deserves. I must confess that. I feel sorry for him on that front, but we have more strikers available now because we had the situation where Olivier Giroud was not clear at the start of the season. We didn’t know when Danny Welbeck would come back and in the end there was a congestion there but that doesn’t take anything away from his quality. If I’m the manager, I would love to keep him. We have to sit down together and see if he has a reasonable chance to play next season or not."

Does that make everything better? Does it soothe the pain of knowing that he proved himself Arsenal quality yet was never given the time of day to make more of an impact?

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Lucas could have been the slick, cheap solution to our striker problem that might well have erased the need to go after an Alexandre Lacazette or a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Lucas has showcased excellent abilities and fits the Wenger billing of doing more than just scoring goals.

He is creative, smart, a great passer and has a thunderous left foot to boot. He could have easily filled the gap until Donyell Malen was ready to impact the main stage.

But instead of finding out, Wenger wasted time diddling back and forth between Alexis Sanchez, who he has now moved away from striker for good, Olivier Giroud, who does not belong in this formation, and Danny Welbeck, who has never found scoring goals to be easy.

If Wenger was smart, he would find every possible opportunity to play Lucas in these last few games. The 3-4-3 might accentuate his strengths and, in turn, convince all parties that they belong together.

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Or, if not, then Lucas can leave North London with a suitcase full of Wenger’s sympathies.

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