Lucas Perez and his agent Rodrigo Fernandez Lovelle seem to be perplexed that Arsenal haven’t jumped at the chance to take a big loss on a player they signed just a year ago.
Perez wants to return to his previous club Deportivo La Coruna, but Arsenal have been reluctant to let the Spaniard skip off from his gap year in London, much richer, and at a great cost to the club.
The 28 year old was never likely to be first choice at Arsenal, yet quickly into his Emirates career there was doubt around the future of the striker. Everything was so unfair and a return to Spain talked up, and possibly even acted upon in the background.
So quick was Perez’s desire to return to Spain reported, that one could be forgiven for thinking that was the plan all along. A boost to the bank account, a roll of the Premier League dice, and a chance for Depor to get the transfer fee right when they really needed it.
Despite that, Arsenal are being portrayed as the bad guy. Taking Perez’s shirt number away from him, and giving it to Alexandre Lacazette, was seen as an insult, but to believe that accusation one would have to ignore the player had been pushing for an exit anyway.
Perez was hardly in Highbury getting an Arsenal crest tattooed on his rear when he heard the shocking news.
“The offer of Deportivo of €12m very much fits with the current market,” Lovelle told the Galicia newspaper. “Arsenal can’t forget that of the €20m they paid, Deportivo had to give 30% to PAOK, so that only left €14m. And, previously, they had paid the Greek club €1.5m for 70%. By this I mean that with this proposal of €12m they’re giving everything they charged for Lucas.”
Firstly, Arsenal aren’t a no interest loan account. Secondly, after Deportivo paid a fee to PAOK to sign Perez, they actually got some benefit out of him, he wasn’t merely a paper investment.
None of this is Arsenal’s problem.
“In a few days I’ll go there again to see if we can unlock this,” Lovelle continued. “I say the usual. Arsenal won’t concede, but today it’s the 13th. There is still time.
“Arsenal were the first to show they don’t count on the player, because they removed the shirt without consulting him. As the market is, and considering that they are the first to have devalued him, I think that €12m is a very good offer.”
Perhaps, just perhaps, Lovelle not painting Arsenal as the big bad wolf could have been a better tactic in negotiations on the player’s price. A sob story about homesickness may have worked better than simultaneously pointing an accusing finger at Arsenal and asking them to give up several million.
La Voz de Galicia say the asking price is €15m, with the €3m difference obviously causing an issue. Offers from Turkey have been reported, and Newcastle United are interested, but Perez seems to value a return to Galica above all else.
Maybe, if Lovelle is so concerned about his client, he can add up all the agent fees earned on the player’s transfers in recent years and donate it to try and make up some of the difference.
It’s only fair, right?
