OPINION
Newcastle United must steal West Ham’s reported plans to pursue a cut-price deal for Arsenal attacker Lucas Perez as he would be able to light up St James Park with the right guidance.
The London Evening Standard reported on Monday that the Hammers were exploring the possibility of getting the Gunners to agree to a cut-price £5million deal in order to sell them Perez before the transfer window shuts.
The newspaper claimed that while the 29-year-old who earns £80,000-a-week at the Emirates (Source: Total Sportek) wants to stay put, the Gunners have informed him that he can leave.
Perez has struggled to prove his talents at the top-six Premier League side and it seems very likely that the Gunners will successfully push him out of the door in order to start a new era at the club.
The Spanish forward, who can also play as a right-winger, would be able to boost the Magpies’ attacking threat if recruited even if he has only managed to score one goal in his 11 league appearances in England’s top division.
The 29-year-old never seem to be handed enough opportunities at the Gunners, as it appeared he didn’t fit Arsene Wenger’s system, and he seem to lose all confidence in his ability while under the care of the experienced manager.
When you consider that the Gunners paid £17.5million for his services in 2016 then it proves how highly-rated he was by a Premier League side in order to invest that much in him.
Arsenal opted to loan Perez out to former club Deportivo La Coruna last season and near the end of his campaign, he looked to finally have rediscovered his self-belief which saw him even start to hit the back of the net again.
Perez scored three goals, while registering one assists, in his final four La Liga appearances of his 2017/18 campaign and his form could easily continue if signed by the Magpies.
Rafa Benitez has not only a knack for teaching old dogs new tricks but regularly guides under-performing members of his team to actually transform their performances for the better.
There’s no reason that the Magpies manager could use a little bit of his magic to turn Perez back into an attacker that someone would splash the cash on.
This all means that the Magpies must steal their Premier League rivals’ plans to sign Perez in a cut-price deal as not only is he capable of being seen as a bargain in the future, he would boost Benitez’s team goal threat if he rediscover his form.
