The last Arsenal player to wear the number nine shirt that has now been handed to our new striker signing was the Germany international Lukas Podolski. Even though there is some debate about whether he was given a fair crack of the whip by Arsene Wenger, it is fair to say that his Arsenal career was not the success that we or the forward would have hoped.
And it is fair to say that Lucas Perez is not going to be wearing a number that has been particularly bathed in glory in recent years, with Arsenal flops Francis Jeffers (the fox in the box), Julio Baptista and Park Chu-Young all having worn it, so let us hope that the Spaniard breaks this mould and make our number nine a shirt to be feared by opposing defenders once more.
Lucas Perez certainly sounds like he is in the moos to do just that and he seems genuinely delighted to be coming to north London to play with what he describes in an Evening Standard report as being some of the best in the world.
For a striker it must feel good to know that you will have the most creative player in Europe’s top league from last season supplying you with ammunition to fire and as well as Mesut Ozil the former Deportivo La Coruna star is looking forward to playing with his fellow countryman Santi Cazorla.
The 26-year old said, “It’s very exciting. To play with the best, to compete with the best… It makes me very happy.
“It’s a challenge, and if someone had told me at ten years old when I was playing in the streets of La Coruna, I would have thrown them off a bridge, I’d have said ‘you’re crazy’.
“It is one of the best clubs in the world.
“I’m looking forward to playing in European competitions, fighting for the title, earning an international call-up, growing as a player and sharing a dressing room with Olivier Giroud, Santi [Cazorla], [Mesut] Ozil.
“I’m proud to be doing that having been at Deportivo.
“I’ll be an example for many kids here by going to a big team like Arsenal, hopefully, I’ll serve as an example for kids to do even better than me.”
That is a great attitude to have but will it help him to grace the number nine shirt like an Eduardo or Anelka rather than a Jeffers?
Bob.
I’ve got a good feeling about this guy, something tells me he will be a bargain. Hey guys! I am new here.
Welcome @Ramos… and I completely agree with you on that. I have a feeling that Lucas will be a hit for Arsenal…as well as Holding.
If you’re a good player numbers dont matter…u take a number and make it ur own put ur name on..im backing him to succeed here..welcome home bruh…COYG
I foresee Lucas being used more in games where we are looking to counter-attack more, such as man utd away and chelsea away. We will probably use giroud more at home as teams generally like to park the bus against us and we will need a target in the box
I hope he does well for us, that is something that could make a difference this season
Whatever happens, Arsenal’s hope of the title this season rest on his shoulders to meet xpectation and be the Vardy we should have signed.
You can do it LUKE PEREZ!!!
Rob Schneider.
We should resign Overmars. Watching the Legend match
We got Lucas Perez, I have faith in him and I hope he is the striker we need, but I wonder if it was a good deal indeed…
Just comparing some other strikers that were signed by other clubs:
Nolito
Batshuayi
Vincent Janssen
Slimani
Benteke
J. Calleri
Bony
Alcacer
Jese
Wissam Ben Yedder
Lucas Vietto
Gameiro
Milik
Zaza
Mario Gomes
Gabriel Barbosa (Gabigol)
Gabriel Jesus
Breel Embolo
These were ALL available strikers that were signed by other clubs. I’m not even considering Ibra and Higuain…
We tried to sign Perez last January, so much for the lazy panic buy sloganeering, led by the laziest of all ..DT.
Lucas Perez will do well. I have a positive feeling about him. Reminds me of Wiltord. They came to light at their late 20’s. Perez is hungry and he wants to give his all. In as much as we wanted an A list striker, I m happy we got Perez still. I do watch LA liga and saw some games Deportivo played. All the best Perez. Show us what we got
forget the number 9 curse
Perez will do great to avoid the Arsenal Injury curse
If Cech, Bellerin, Monreal, Koscielny, Mustafi, Xhaka, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ozil, Alexis, Giroud, Perez can avoid major injuries that would be awesome
We can handle minor injuries ie 1-3 weeks because we finally have a complete team so we have two decent players in every position to back them up
GK: Cech/Ospina
RB: Bellerin/Debuchy
LB: Monreal/Gibbs
CB: Koscielny, Mustafi, Mert, Gabs
DM/B2B: Xhaka, Cazorla, Coquelin, Ramsey
CAM: Ozil/Cazorla
LW: Alexis/Perez
RW: Alexis/Walcott/Ox
Striker: Giroud/Perez
Last season injuries to Cazorla and Coquelin hit us really hard, now we have reinforced with Xhaka
Also Giroud and Theo didn’t perform, now we have reinforced with Perez
The other problem last season was that when welbeck came back he was good, scored two critical match winning goals, then got injured again.
I think Lucas Perez will do very well and may even finish the season as our top goal scorer (Alexis may have something to say about that). Arteta and Santi came here in their late 20s as well and both are/were very good for us. Perez will have similar impact.