By Ewah Chika.
After trying severally albeit unsuccessfully to sign Leicester City's Jamie Vardy (29) in the summer, Arsene Wenger elected to sign Deportivo La Coruna's Lucas Perez who bagged 17 goals in La Liga last season for the Galician club that struggled to escape relegation. Arsenal on their part, struggled all through last season to keep pace with Leicester City in what looked like their best chance of winning the Premier League which has eluded them for the past 12 years.
It is difficult to fathom why Arsenal splashed out £17 million for a player who had only one decent season (just like Dani Guiza of Mallorca in 2008) after playing in the less glamorous leagues of Ukraine and Greece for most of his career. Perhaps this is made worse considering the lethargic and rusty debut of the striker last weekend against Southampton where he was anonymous before his withdrawal in the 62nd minute for Oliver Giroud. Another critical point against the striker's signing is his advanced age (28 in October) which means he is in his prime at the moment, which is generally against the philosophy of Arsene Wenger who rarely signs players close to that age. Arsenal fans will also be praying that Perez succeeds in London even though he is yet to consistently perform at the top level having flopped in Dynamo Kiev, making no league appearance for the Kiev club at the same time, having a below average time in Greece with PAOK. Perez's isn't helped by the fact that he never made a single appearance for any Spanish age-grade side which is an indication of his late developement.
On the other-hand, The Galician born forward might be a bargain considering his pace especially when running into spaces behind defenders which he will surely look to exploit in the Premiership. Perez is also similar to Vardy, as both strikers share a rough beginning which has only made them more determined unlike the players that graduated from Premier League top club academies who have almost everything on a platter of gold. Going by this, it is widely expected that the Spaniard does an Ian Wright at the club after the Englishman joined the North London club at the same age, quickly becoming Arsenal's all time goalscorer.
Just like Arsenal legends Thierry Henry and Robin Van Persie , the former Karpaty Lviv forward also started his career on the flanks before converting to the forward position. This has surely aided the forward's technical ability judging from his time in Spain as his runs and poaching are top notch. Arsene Wenger also seems prepared to move on from a slow and patient build up pattern which encouraged opponents to sit deep and defend and frustrate them for some time. Clearly with Perez leading the line, Arsenal can afford to play a fast paced or high energy pressing game, suffocating their opponents and denying them the chance of inflicting damages on them (Arsenal) , unlike their well known slow possession based football that had the likes of Oliver Giroud and Danny Welbeck leading the line and slowing down the tempo and pace.
Taking Perez's goal records last season into consideration, one will be amazed at the fact that Oliver Giroud (the forward the Spaniard striker is expected to replace in the starting line-up in Arsenal) managed only 16 league goals which is one less than Perez, even though the Frenchman last season played in an Arsenal team that had world class players like Mesut Ozil, Santi Cazorla, Alexeis Sanchez and Aaron Ramsey creating chances for him.
Finally, it is still too early to predict how Perez will perform at the Emirates but one thing is sure and that is : by the end of May, the signing of Lucas Perez from Deportivo will be classified as either a bargain or a waste.
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