You gotta feel for Lucas Perez! The £17.1m signing from Deportivo La Coruna could have been the main man for Arsenal this season. Olivier Giroud was missing through injuries for a significant amount of time and Alexis Sanchez was being played as the false nine which means that he could have made the number nine position his own if he had a good start to life at the Emirates. It will be a criminal offence to say that the Spaniard has had a poor start considering how much he has played. Injuries haven’t been kind to the attacker and already, there are talks that there could be a potential move.
2 goals and 3 assists from just 277 minutes of first-team football is quite an impressive figure at any level but surprisingly, Wenger was hesitant to start him in the Premier League. Now, the 28-year-old is closing on a return to fitness and talkSPORT claim that Arsenal are going to allow him moving on loan in order to get regular game time. With Welbeck likely to return roughly around the same time, a move might make sense.
Here are three possible destinations for the gifted Spanish forward in the Premier League.
Swansea City
Bottom of the table Swansea City are in dire need of quality players in order to stave off relegation which seems inevitable at the moment. The Swans have scored just 11 goals from 12 games this season but their two high-profile summer signings Borja Baston and Fernando Llorente have scored a combined total of just 2 goals. That is enough to prove how impotent the attack of the Welsh side is right now and Lucas Perez could be the solution to that problem.
He’s guaranteed one thing- regular starts. He has shown already that scoring isn’t a problem if he starts and Swansea could provide him with that.
Sunderland
Another team who have struggled for goals this season is Sunderland and despite their recent resurgence, tough games could once again bring back the sombre feeling at Stadium of Light. Defoe and Anichebe have scored 10 combined goals. The Black Cats seem to be overly reliant on 34-year-old Defoe for all the goals. Anichebe has picked up his form lately. Lucas Perez was a prolific scorer in La Liga and that proficiency could come to use in order to save the Black Cats from relegation.
West Ham United
West Ham United have been one of the biggest letdowns this season. After such a brilliant last season, everyone expected them to do much better this season but the Hammers have let everyone down.
A top-six finish was their prime target when the season started but if Bilic’s boys cannot pick up their game really soon, they will be dragged into the relegation zone. One of the key reasons behind their poor run of form is their poor run of form this season is the impotency of their strikers. None of the West Ham strikers has scored a single goal this season and Lucas Perez could be the solution to the Hammers’ goalscoring woes.
Perez could well be the striker to lift them out of their doom and gloom. He has good pace to burn and is prolific in front of goal, something that one didn’t associate with Zaza even before he made the loan move to West London.
