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West Ham Pulse – Hammers Polls and Goodbye Lucas Perez

By Adam Smith

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 04: Lucas Perez of West Ham United celebrates after scoring his team's first goal during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Cardiff City at London Stadium on December 4, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 04: Lucas Perez of West Ham United celebrates after scoring his team's first goal during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Cardiff City at London Stadium on December 4, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images) /
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It has been reported that West Ham striker Lucas Perez is off from East London and headed back to Spain. The hot-and-cold striker’s sale was a foregone conclusion, but will West Ham miss him next season?

It was fairly easy to read the tea leaves on this transfer. The Spanish striker had a great loan spell two seasons ago with Deportiva de la Coruna of (then) La Liga. After returning to Arsenal and being moved across London on transfer deadline day, Perez sunk down the depth chart under Manuel Pellegrini.

As the tweet above suggests, West Ham are taking a £1.5m loss on the Lucas Perez signing with Alves paying £2.5m to pry him away. That being said, getting £2.5m got him, creating a roster spot for someone else, losing his wages, and adding money to the war chest for a new signing are all positives in this deal.

The title question, will West Ham miss Perez this season, is a bit of a bait comment but there is some statistical basis to it. While only scoring six goals this season for the Hammers, Perez only played in 19 matches in all competitions. As well, his minutes per goal ratio of 129 min is the best conversion rate of any club striker last season (Arnautovic 136, Hernandez 191).

Green Street Hammers affiliate site HammersPolls.com has contextualized the loss of Perez with a suitable tweet. After leaving on vacation, Hammers Polls dropped this highly serious twitter poll:

Upon voting (Lucas Perez for us), 60% of the West Ham fanbase also agreed that Perez wouldn’t be wasting any time in getting back to his home country of Spain and settling back into a style of football that better suits him.

He is 30 years old, and for West Ham the directive is to become younger and more dynamic. Perez was a one-trick-pony and poacher who did his job very well but wasn’t ever going to be a legitimate starter at the club, and lacked positional versatility.

dark. Next. What’s next for the West Ham players discharged of their duties?

I actually liked Perez, but do agree with the above statement. He’s a player that fits a role, and the Irons can better invest that time in a younger player right now. Adios, Perez! Thanks for the goals including a massive double against Cardiff, and good luck back in Spain!

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