Arsenal: Lucas Perez saga reveals the worst side of Arsene Wenger

After just one year at the club, Lucas Perez wants to leave Arsenal. Assuming he does indeed depart, the whole saga reveals the worst side of Arsene Wenger: his stubbornness.

The Lucas Perez experience is likely to be short-lived. When signed for £17 million last summer, expectations for the hard-working, pacy Spanish striker were low. Arsenal had a number of versatile attackers built in the same vein, and it was simply hoped that he could come into the squad, provide competition for those around him and push for a starting role.

And that is exactly what he did. In all competitions this season, per Who Scored, Perez made 21 appearances, nine of which were starts, playing 491 minutes in total. Of those appearances, he scored seven goals and amassed five assists. More than just his output, though, Perez was a continual threat with his movement off the ball, his touch was soft and subtle, and he was creative on the ball in the final third.

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He was deserving of greater responsibility. Arsene Wenger, though, was unwilling to give to him. As such, Perez is now wanting to leave, in search of a club who will provide him with the merited opportunity to heavily feature throughout the season. Speaking to Radio Gallega, agent Rodrigo Fernandez Lovelle, revealed that he is searching for clubs this summer, with Sevilla keenly interested:

"“The idea is to be able to play for another club. We want to leave and Arsenal already know. Do you know anyone who is happy but has no opportunities? The key date is 3rd July when Arsenal’s preseason begins. Anything is possible -the president of Depor can do wonders while last year I met with Sevilla, who again are interested.”"

Perez’s impending departure – Wenger himself has publicly revealed that he wants to leave and seems resigned to seeing him depart – reveals the very worst side of Wenger: his stubbornness. The primary reason for Perez wanting to leave is the lack of game time that he received. That is purely down to Wenger being unwilling to play him in the more important games.

Why was he unwilling to do so? Because he was stubbornly sticking by his usual players. The likes of Alex Iwobi, Theo Walcott, Olivier Giroud all sat ahead of Perez in the pecking order, even though they were largely outperformed by the Spaniard throughout the season.

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Wenger’s stubborn loyalty to his players is, largely, a positive. He is extremely patient in waiting for them to fulfil the potential that he knows they have. But sometimes it can harm the progression of the squad. This is one of those times.

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