Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was often criticized for his lack of ambition in the transfer windows, which has, in the past, cost the team some silverware. However, the Frenchman decided to spill the cash this summer and got in the likes of Granit Xhaka, Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez to the Emirates to try and compete with the best in the league this season. The Swiss midfielder and the German centerback have already impressed this season but the former La Liga forward has not been able to break into the first team at the club.
Wenger was in desperate search of a top class striker to add his squad and was linked to some of the biggest names in Europe. Jamie Vardy, Gonzalo Higuain, Mauro Icardi and Alexandre Lacazette were all on the radar of the Premier League outfit but Wenger was not able to lure any of them out of the club and was still searching, entering the last weekend of the transfer window. The options were running low and it looked like Wenger will have to spend big late in the window to add to his squad. So he settled with an in-form Spanish forward Lucas Perez.
The 28-year old picked up 17 goals and 8 assist for Deportivo la Coruna in the Spanish domestic league last season and was one of the most inform forwards in Europe. Wenger was not able to get his hands on any of his top transfer targets and finally decided to spend around £17m on his man on deadline day. Having made 3 appearances in the top flight of English football this season, Lucas is yet to open his scoring account and has created just the 1 chance in the outings he got.
Though players from a different leagues take time to adjust to the Premier League, Lucas just does not seem like a player that fits the bill for the Gunners. With the likes of Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck already on the cards, Wenger needed to add a top class, prolific goal scorer who can lead the side straight away this season. Instead, he bought in a player, in his prime, and is asking him to play a peripheral role as he does not fit into the squad.
Recent reports also suggest that Wenger made an astonishing £80m bid for Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and failed so it is clear that why Wenger settled for the La Liga star in the summer. Wenger had to change his system and has had to use a false-9 in Alexis Sanchez but the most shocking fact is that Perez is not even the first choice from the bench. Olivier Giroud is now the first choice substitute for Wenger leaving Lucas with hardly any playing time this season. Wenger needed a star player who can help the team take the next step, instead, he went out and bought a player who improves the depth in the squad. Though Lucas might still come good, at the moment, he looks like nothing more than a panic buy by Wenger.