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Arsenal: Lucas Perez return brings many questions
Lucas Perez wants a return to Arsenal after a nightmare loan season at Deportivo de la Coruna in the summer. It would bring many questions and much uncertainty.
When Lucas Perez signed for Arsenal in the late stages of the 2016 summer transfer window, it was reported that he was not initially seen by Arsene Wenger and the club as a player capable of helping them at the striker position. Allegedly, he was graded by scouts and the management team at the club as an average Premier League striker at the start of the window. By the end of it, he was completing a £17 million deal.
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His first season mirrored that turbulence. Limited options. Shining performances. It was frustrating to see Perez’s time in North London tail off quite significantly in the closing stages of the season, eventually ending in him publicly stating that he wanted to leave.
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Leave, he did. A seemingly dreamy return to Deportivo de la Coruna. But all has not been as anticipated. A desperately poor season has seen Branquiazuis slip to 19th in La Liga, with Perez having scored just four league goals in 26 appearances, 23 of which are starts. The fans have turned on him, some of them ridiculing him for falling out of the Spain squad, and his popularity at a club that he was exalted at has plummeted.
Perez, then, is looking forward to the end of his loan spell in Spain. He is, oddly, given the toils of his first season, hopeful for his return to North London, hopeful of perhaps reigniting a career that at 29 is beginning to slip away. His impending return to the club in the summer, though, brings more questions than it does answers.
Presumably, seeing as they have deemed him short of the quality that they would want, Arsenal would be happy for Perez to leave once again, either on a permanent or temporary basis. But who would take him and his reported £40,000-a-week wages? He is not an easy sell.
His contract also has two years remaining to run. It is not as simple as just allowing him to run down a fairly significant deal and sit in the reserves. Arsenal have been tight up against the wage budget for some time. That would not exactly be the most prudent of moves.
His contract also has two years remaining to run. It is not as simple as just allowing him to run down a fairly significant deal and sit in the reserves. Arsenal have been tight up against the wage budget for some time. That would not exactly be the most prudent of moves.
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The return of Perez is utterly fascinating. He may not be the flashy name that grabs all the headlines. But he brings doubt, he brings anticipation, he brings excitement, and he brings questions.