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.