Deal close: Arsenal to sign £17m striker after hijacking rivals’ extraordinary bid

Aug 25, 2016 at 10:04 AM

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Deal close: Arsenal to sign £17m striker after hijacking rivals’ extraordinary bid

Finally some good news! Deportivo striker Lucas Perez looks like is certain to join Arsenal in a £17m deal after the Gunners hijacked Everton’s move for the 27-year-old attacker, according to latest reports.

Arsene Wenger failed in bids to sign Jamie Vardy and Alexandre Lacazette this summer but remains keen to add more strikeforce in the up front.

The Frenchman has come under huge pressure from Arsenal fans in the last fortnight to spend after the club’s disappointing start to the season.

Perez is yet to earn a cap for Spain but Everton were working on a deal to bring the forward to Goodison Park after former Leicester City scout Steve Walsh recommended the striker to Ronald Koeman.

However, according to El Confidencial in Spain, Arsenal have made a late swoop and are ready to meet the striker’s £17m release clause.

Perez had his finest season to date last term in La Liga, scoring 17 goals in 36 appearances.

The 27-year-old shot to prominence after netting some wonderful goals for his boyhood club Deportivo last season and has been the subject of intense speculation throughout the summer, reports suggesting he topped the wishlists of even Leicester City and Barcelona.

The forward was thought to be mulling over a move to Merseyside but Arsenal’s ability to offer Champions League football appears to have swung the deal in the Gunners’ favour.

Though the signing is unlikely to appease those calling for a glamour arrival, any deal for Perez is likely to relieve the burden on Olivier Giroud’s shoulders.

An energetic and willing runner, the uncapped Spaniard is adept at racing in behind backlines and harrying defenders into errors.

His late equaliser against Atletico Madrid at the Riazor in October (below) summed up Lucas better than any words could; chasing down and stealing the ball from a dawdling Jose Maria Gimenez before rounding Jan Oblak with supreme composure.

 

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