It’s finally done. The one thing we’ve been waiting to hear all summer; Arsenal Football Club have signed a striker.
Remarkably, and in complete and utter Gunners fashion the man we’ll be welcoming to the Emirates is someone you might not have heard of until 24 hours ago.
But in the quickest turnaround of a transfer we’ve seen for a while, Lucas Perez will join the North London side after Arsene Wenger agreed a £17.1million deal for the 27-year-old.
The news has been confirmed by the oracle of Arsenal news, David Ornstein, who went on to state a £35million deal for Shkodran Mustafi is also entering its final stages.
Arsenal have beaten Everton to signing of Deportivo La Coruna striker Lucas Perez. Deal agreed, #AFC meeting €20m release clause, 17.1m #EFC
— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) August 25, 2016
As well as the above, Deportivo have recently announced that their star striker has been removed from their squad list for the upcoming tie with Real Betis.
Perez, who goes by the name of Lucas, will become Arsenal’s new number nine and is expected to be officially announced at some stage on Friday ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Watford this weekend.
It’s a deal that many will see as a panic buy, but Wenger had to act quickly in this case after hijacking the deal from fellow Premier League side, Everton.
Ronald Koeman’s side looked to have the transfer in concrete until talks stalled, leaving the path open for Wenger to convince the Spanish international to switch to North London instead.
Champions League football was too good an offer for Perez to turn down, and after contact was made the striker made up his mind within a heartbeat.
Perez managed to bag 17 goals in La Liga last season, whilst picking up 8 assists along the way to leave him as one positive from an underwhelming season with Deportivo, who finished 15th.
His ability to take players on is exactly what sets him aside from Giroud, who will welcome competition in the forward role ahead of a season full of pressure.
Perez was also being tracked by some European heavyweights, with Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Leicester City all keeping tabs on the hitman.
Perez is expected to complete a medical on Friday morning, with the deal set to be formally announced by Arsenal later on in the day.
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