Lucas Perez signed for PAOK in the summer 2013 transfer window and after a season he pushed his way out, initially on loan, to Deportivo La Coruna.
In 2016 he left the Spanish club for Arsenal, and the following summer he again joined Deportivo on loan, after his agent had spent several months pushing the Gunners to agree to the terms on offer.
When that loan ended he moved to West Ham on a permanent deal worth around £4m.
Within a few months, there were already claims of a potential return to Spain, with a loan seemingly what was being planned by the player’s camp way before the January window opened.
The pattern of signing a relatively big contract and then returning to Spain on loan, likely keeping the majority if not all of the wages, seems a well practised one for the 30 year old.
Real Betis are the club being most heavily linked at the moment, and Diario de Sevilla report Perez is keen on the move. The club wanted the player in the summer, but he chose West Ham and a salary the Spanish newspaper say is almost €3m a year after tax.
Had he gone direct to Betis, it would have been less, but now the club know they’d need to match that amount.
West Ham are reluctant and not keen on a straightforward loan. They either want the player to go completely, for around €4-5m, or on loan with a compulsory purchase clause.
Betis are looking at other options first.
