Earlier in May, many believed that Nani would return to Valencia in the summer after his loan spell at Lazio expires. The Portuguese winger has failed to impress and his chances at qualifying for the Portugal World Cup squad are now over. Lazio were then said to be looking at Lucas Perez of Arsenal as their replacement.
The Spaniard arrived at the Emirates for £17 million in the summer of 2016 and struggled for first-team football under Arsene Wenger. However, he did still manage seven goals in his 21 appearances in all competitions and showed glimpses of class. But the arrival of Alexandre Lacazette put an end to his chance of playing regularly and he instead returned to Deportivo on a season long loan. The team has sadly underperformed and will be relegated. Lucas Perez has in this process been able to score 7 goals and 5 assists in 33 games in La Liga.
It was actually earlier on, at Deportivo, that Igli Tare studied Perez but also came across the countryman Luis Alberto. The two led the Deportivo La Coruna to a safe salvation, scoring half of the team’s total goals (23 out of 45). Lazio is now said to be waiting for the season to end to start to talk with Arsenal to decide the transfer (probable loan with right of redemption), but there is said to be a rough agreement with Perez already.
Last week, another rumour re-emerged surrounding the player.
Lazio is looking for an attacker: the name is Lucas Perez, who is about to end his second experience in Spain, in Deportivo la Curuna, on loan from Arsenal.
Everything surrounding his future is yet to be decided, and once back in London, the club and the player’s agent will meet to discuss Perez. It will be at the end of May, when Arsenal will establish their squad and see if the Spaniard is wanted by the new manager.
Lazio is in the window, waiting patiently, for a player that can support or replace Immobile and Lucas Perez is their wanted man, who was already close to Lazio last summer. Tare could exploit his great friendship with Luis Alberto to try to take him to Rome.
Today, the agent of Lucas Perez talked about the situation.
Lazio moves on the market, looking to reinforce the attack and give a partner to Immobile.
According to Corriere dello Sport, it could be a friend of Luis Alberto, his former teammate, to land in Rome. After a good season at Deportivo, Lucas Perez returned to Arsenal. His future is all to be written, but Rome is a welcome destination, as his agent told Corriere that he liked the interest for the player: “Lucas will turn 30 in September – still young for football, and it is the ideal boundary between youth and maturity. He dreams of continuing to grow as a player, to find new motivations, to fight for big goals other than salvation. He wants to try to live as long as he is in professional football. Replaying in European competitions is one of his goals that he wants to achieve, but first of all he wants to enjoy what he loves, football. Lucas enjoys his profession every second and has a two-year contract with Arsenal. The club has never put him on the market, it was the player who decided to move at the end of the last summer market. He was sorry to be on the bench, not to be called into question.”
The appreciation for Lazio is clear: “Rome is a great city, Lazio is a great club and anyone would be happy to defend its colours. Lazio is always fighting to get into Europe, it has finished a great season. Luis Alberto is a great friend of Lucas, and one of his dreams is to come back to play with Luis, they understand each other perfectly”.
Would Lucas Perez solve the vice-Immobile issue?
