Lucas Pérez

Lucas Pérez

Pérez with Karpaty Lviv in 2011
Personal information
Full name Lucas Pérez Martínez
Date of birth (1988-09-10) 10 September 1988
Place of birth A Coruña, Spain
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Forward
Club information
Current team
 Arsenal
Number 28
Youth career
Alavés
Montañeros
Órdenes
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2009 Atlético Madrid C 55 (18)
2009–2011 Rayo Vallecano B 44 (25)
2010–2011 Rayo Vallecano 7 (1)
2011–2013 Karpaty Lviv 51 (14)
2013 → Dynamo Kyiv (loan) 0 (0)
2013–2015 PAOK 32 (9)
2014–2015 → Deportivo La Coruña (loan) 21 (6)
2015–2016 Deportivo La Coruña 36 (17)
2016– Arsenal 11 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4 March 2017.

Lucas Pérez Martínez (born 10 September 1988) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for English club Arsenal as a forward.

Football career

Atlético / Rayo

Pérez was born in A Coruña, Galicia. After appearing for three different clubs as a youth he moved to Madrid and joined Atlético Madrid's C-team, playing two seasons in Tercera División. In the 2009 summer he signed with Rayo Vallecano, helping the reserves promote from the same level in his first year.

In the 2010–11 season, Pérez contributed with five games and one goal (in a 3–0 home win against Real Valladolid on 6 November 2010[1]) as Rayo returned to La Liga after eight years. He continued to be mainly registered with the B side, however.

Karpaty Lviv

Pérez after scoring a hat-trick for Karpaty in 2012

On 17 January 2011, free agent Pérez joined FC Karpaty Lviv on a three-year deal.[2] He scored his first goal for the team on 17 July, against FC Chornomorets Odesa in a 1–1 Ukrainian Premier League draw.

Pérez netted a hat-trick on 4 November 2012 in a 4–0 home win over FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih, including a long-distance volley from a corner kick delivery.[3] In January 2013 he joined fellow league club FC Dynamo Kyiv on loan for the remainder of the campaign, and later labelled his experience as "a nightmare".[4]

PAOK / Deportivo

On 5 July 2013, Pérez signed on a fee of €700,000 a three-year contract with Superleague Greece team PAOK FC.[5] He scored his first competitive goal on 17 August, contributing to a 3–0 home success over Skoda Xanthi FC, and on 24 November he equalised in a 3–1 win over Aris Thessaloniki F.C. in the Derby of Northern Greece;[6] he also helped to a runner-up run in the national cup, losing the decisive match to Panathinaikos FC.

On 18 July 2014, Pérez returned to Spain and joined his newly promoted hometown side Deportivo de La Coruña in a one-year loan deal, with a buyout clause.[7] He scored in his first official appearance, having started in a 3–0 home win against Valencia CF on 19 October which also marked his La Liga debut;[8] the following matchday he was replaced in the 15th minute of a 0–0 away draw against RCD Espanyol, due to a knee injury.[9][10]

Pérez only returned to action in January of the following year,[11] appearing 12 minutes in a 0–4 home loss against FC Barcelona.[12] On 23 May, against the same opponent at the Camp Nou, he helped Dépor come from behind by scoring in the 67th minute of a 2–2 draw in the last round that prevented relegation.[13]

On 23 July 2015, in his first competitive match upon his return to PAOK, against NK Lokomotiva for the second preliminary round of the UEFA Europa League, Pérez scored the opener after Róbert Mak's shot was saved, in an eventual 6–0 home success.[14] One week later, against FC Spartak Trnava for the same competition, he netted the game's only goal in the first leg.[15]

On 12 August 2015, Pérez signed a permanent four-year deal with Deportivo.[16] On 12 December, he took his season tally to 11 goals in only 15 games, helping to a 2–2 draw at Barcelona.[17]

Pérez totalled a career-best 17 goals at the end of the campaign, eventually helping his team escape relegation again.[18]

Arsenal

On 27 August 2016, Arsène Wenger said that Pérez had completed a medical examination in order to join Arsenal after the paperwork was done.[19][20] Three days later the transfer was confirmed by the club, for a reported fee of £17.1 million.[21] He made his competitive debut in the 2–1 Premier League home win over Southampton on 10 September, which coincided with both his birthday and that of teammate Laurent Koscielny, whom he assisted for his team's equaliser.[22]

On 20 September 2016, during an EFL Cup away match against Nottingham Forest, Pérez scored his first goals for the Gunners, grabbing a brace in an eventual 4–0 triumph.[23] On 6 December, he contributed with three goals in 39 minutes to a 4–1 away win over FC Basel in the UEFA Champions League group stage, helping Arsenal win the group.[24]

On 3 January 2017, Pérez netted for the first time in the domestic league, helping his team come back from 3–0 down to draw 3–3 at Bournemouth.[25] Towards the end of the month, he provided an assist to Danny Welbeck's first-ever brace for Arsenal, in a 5–0 away win against Southampton for the FA Cup.[26]

Club statistics

As of 11 March 2017[27]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Rayo Vallecano 2009–10 2000—20
2010–11 5100—51
Total 7100—71
Rayo B 2010–11 145—145
Karpaty Lviv 2010–11 8000—80
2011–12 2664041347
2012–13 17810—188
Total 511450416015
Dynamo Kyiv
(loan)		 2012–13 00000000
PAOK 2013–14 329601215010
2015–16 00002222
Total 329601435212
Deportivo
(loan)		 2014–15 21600—216
Deportivo 2015–16 361710—3717
2016–17 1100—11
Total 582410—5924
Arsenal 2016–17 1117333217
Career total 1725319321721263

Honours

PAOK
Arsenal

References

  1. ↑ "Armenteros y Lucas tumban al Valladolid y lanzan al Rayo" [Armenteros and Lucas down Valladolid and propel Rayo]. Marca (in Spanish). 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  2. ↑ ОФІЦІЙНО. "Карпати" підписали іспанського нападника [Official. Karpaty signed Spanish striker] (in Ukrainian). FC Karpaty Lviv. 17 January 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  3. ↑ "'Mendietazo' del ex rayista Lucas en su 'hat-trick' con el Karpaty" ['Goal à la Mendieta' from former Rayo player Lucas in his hat-trick for Karpaty]. Marca (in Spanish). 5 November 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  4. ↑ "Lucas Pérez: "En el Dinamo de Kiev pasé los peores cuatro meses de mi vida"" [Lucas Pérez: "I spent the worst four months of my life at Dinamo Kiev"]. Marca (in Spanish). 16 January 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  5. ↑ "Football: PAOK sign Spyropoulos and Lucas Perez – club". Global Post. 6 July 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  6. ↑ "PAOK beats Aris 3–1 in Greek league". Special Broadcasting Service. 25 November 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  7. ↑ "Lucas Pérez firma su contrato y se entrenará mañana sábado en Abegondo" [Lucas Pérez signs his contract and will train tomorrow Saturday in Abegondo] (in Spanish). Deportivo La Coruña. 18 July 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
  8. ↑ "Cavaleiro y Lucas Pérez revolucionan al Dépor" [Cavaleiro and Lucas Pérez shake Dépor up]. Marca (in Spanish). 19 October 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  9. ↑ "El Espanyol echa de menos a Sergio García" [Espanyol misses Sergio García]. Marca (in Spanish). 26 October 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  10. ↑ "Las lesiones se ceban con Lucas Pérez" [Injuries all over Lucas Pérez]. La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 26 October 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  11. ↑ "Lucas vuelve a convocatoria del Deportivo casi tres meses después" [Lucas returns to a Deportivo callup after nearly three months]. Sport (in Spanish). 17 January 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  12. ↑ "Vuelve el insaciable Messi" [The insatiable Messi returns]. Marca (in Spanish). 18 January 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  13. ↑ "El Barça indulta al Dépor" [Barça pardons Dépor]. Marca (in Spanish). 23 May 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  14. ↑ "Like a revolver gun". PAOK FC. 23 July 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  15. ↑ "Europa League: Ο ΠΑΟΚ νίκησε 1–0 την Σπάρτακ Τρνάβα και ελπίζει" [Europa League: PAOK defeats Spartak Trnava 1–0 and hopes] (in Greek). Naftemporiki. 30 July 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  16. ↑ "Lucas Pérez, nuevo jugador del Dépor para las cuatro próximas temporadas" [Lucas Pérez, new player of Dépor for the following four seasons] (in Spanish). Deportivo La Coruña. 12 August 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  17. ↑ "Barcelona held by Deportivo La Coruna as Lucas fires comeback". ESPN FC. 12 December 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  18. ↑ ""Es imposible pedirle a alguien los 17 goles y ocho asistencias de Lucas"" ["You cannot ask of anyone for Lucas' 17 goals and eight assists"]. La Opinión A Coruña (in Spanish). 7 September 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  19. ↑ "Arsenal boss confirms Lucas Perez and Shkodran Mustafi have been signed (Video)". 101 Great Goals. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  20. ↑ "Lucas Perez completes move to Arsenal". Arsenal F.C. 28 August 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  21. ↑ "Arsenal sign Shkodran Mustafi for more than £35m and Lucas Perez for £17.1m". BBC Sport. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  22. ↑ Ed Malyon (10 September 2016). "Arsenal hand full debuts to Lucas Perez and Shkodran Mustafi for visit of Southampton". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  23. ↑ "Nottingham Forest 0–4 Arsenal". BBC Sport. 20 September 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  24. ↑ "FC Basel 1–4 Arsenal". BBC Sport. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  25. ↑ "AFC Bournemouth 3–3 Arsenal". BBC Sport. 3 January 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  26. ↑ "Southampton 0 Arsenal 5, FA Cup: Gunners dispatch sorry Saints as Theo Walcott scores hat-trick and Danny Welbeck grabs a double". The Daily Telegraph. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  27. ↑ "Lucas Pérez". Soccerway. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  28. ↑ "Lucas Pérez – Trophies". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
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