London: Lucas Perez has furiously hit out over his lack of playing time last season and reportedly told Arsenal that he feels “cheated” by his treatment and the “ugly gesture” of giving his No. 9 shirt to Alexandre Lacazette. Perez, who was signed last summer for £17 million (Dh81.5 million), has also made it clear that he wants to return to Deportivo La Coruna, where he hopes to push for a place in Spain’s World Cup squad. The website, La Voz de Galicia, has published an account of a meeting the striker held last week with Arsenal’s transfer negotiator Dick Law. “I want to leave, to play and be happy,” Perez was said to have told Law.
“Last year, I barely had any opportunities and when I had them I took advantage of them. And this season is clearly going to be more of the same. I want to fight to go to the national team. I want to play football, but for that I have to leave. And I think that the best place for me is at home, with Depor.”
Wenger did repeatedly sympathise last season with Perez’s predicament and even admitted that he deserved more playing time but his decision to buy Lacazette means that the 28-year-old is even less likely to feature. Perez scored seven goals last season for Arsenal — including a brilliant volley against Bournemouth — but ultimately made only 11 Premier League appearances. Alexis Sanchez, Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck were repeatedly preferred as the main central striker. “They [Arsenal] are not behaving well with me,” Perez reportedly told Law.
“The thing of taking the shirt number without telling me to give it to a companion, it seems to me the last straw. “I cannot continue this way. I have given everything, but that has not been reciprocated, so I can’t stand it any longer. I feel cheated. In February, I was not allowed to leave for China with the promise that I would play more and after that I had even fewer opportunities. But the shirt number is an ugly gesture. On the trip, Lacazette asked the boss and he accepted.
“Last year he [Wenger] told me that he understood that I was upset. I think this season things will get worse. Since I have been a professional footballer, I’ve felt happiest in Deportivo, surrounded by my family, my friends. I know I have chances to go to the national team. To play the World Cup. A dream. But for that I have to play and I have to be happy. That’s why I want to go back to Coruna.” Fenerbahce are also interested in Perez. Deportivo, though, have reportedly offered him a 10-year contract that would allow him to move into an off-field role. When asked last season about Perez, Wenger said: “I couldn’t give him the games that he wants and that he deserves. I feel sorry for him on that front, but we have more strikers available now.”
