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Lucas can add another dimension to the Arsenal attack

Lucas can add another dimension to the Arsenal attack

Arsenal has been crying out for a new striker for the past few seasons and just before transfer deadline the Gunners purchased a new striker in Spaniard Lucas Perez. The 27-year-old is a late bloomer and arrived in north London from Deportivo La Coruna for £17million.

Two of his main assets are pace and his versatility. That season Lucas surprised everybody by hitting 18 goals in La Liga with Deportivo.

He had previously struggled to make his mark in the past, having endured spells with the likes of Rayo Vallecano in Spain, Karpaty Lviv in Ukraine and PAOK in Greece, before returning to Spain with Deportivo in 2014 initially on loan.

His most prolific season prior to last season, came in his two-year spell at Karpaty, when he scored 14 goals in 51 appearances. Nothing earlier in his career suggested that he would be prolific with Deportivo last season.

However, according to new teammate Shkodran Mustafi, who played against him in Spain while with Valencia, Lucas is a difficult opponent to come up against.

Perez is a different sort of player to Arsenal’s first-choice striker Olivier Giroud, who offers more of a physical presence, but is far less mobile. Perez like his new teammates Theo Walcott and Alexis Sanchez offers directness and pace.

However, he seems more adept at playing as a lone striker than his fellow Arsenal teammates. Both Sanchez and Walcott have played as a lone front man and it has yielded mixed results so far. The pair looks more effective when they play in wide positions.

Lucas gives Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger another central striking option. He offers a different dimension.  If he can rediscover his form from last season in the English top-flight then he could very well be a massive hit in north London and help the Gunners achieve success in the process.

Premier League
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
Manchester City 73 32 22 7 3 44
2
Arsenal 71 32 22 5 5 49
3
Liverpool 71 32 21 8 3 41
4
Aston Villa 63 33 19 6 8 19
5
Tottenham 60 32 18 6 8 16
6
Newcastle United 50 32 15 5 12 17
7
Manchester United 50 32 15 5 12 -1
8
West Ham 48 33 13 9 11 -6
9
Chelsea 47 31 13 8 10 9
10
Brighton 44 32 11 11 10 2
11
Wolverhampton 43 32 12 7 13 -5
12
Fulham 42 33 12 6 15 -2
13
Bournemouth 42 32 11 9 12 -10
14
Crystal Palace 33 32 8 9 15 -17
15
Brentford 32 33 8 8 17 -11
16
Everton 27 32 9 8 15 -16
17
Nottingham Forest 26 33 7 9 17 -16
18
Luton Town 25 33 6 7 20 -24
19
Burnley 20 33 4 8 21 -35
20
Sheffield United 16 32 3 7 22 -54

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