Arsenal forward Lucas Perez is nearing a switch to West Ham, according to Italian reporter Matteo Moretto.
The reliable journalist, who works for Gianluca Di Marzio and is followed by the Sky Sports Italy reporter on Twitter, claimed on his personal Twitter account on Saturday that Perez, 29, is set to join up with Manuel Pellegrini at the London Stadium.
Lucas Perez cerca del West Ham de Pellegrini. @SkySport
— Matteo Moretto (@MatteMoretto) August 4, 2018
Franceso Porzio, another one of Di Marzio’s staff members, echoed the claim on his Twitter account in English.
? Lucas Perez close to @WestHamUtd #WHUFC #AFC https://t.co/dshQfeno5C
— Francesco Porzio (@fraporzio95) August 4, 2018
Perez spent last season out on loan at Deportivo following a miserable debut campaign at the Emirates the year before.
According to statistics website Spotrac, he earns £70,000-a-week on his deal with the Gunners.
Good move for West Ham?
Perez has not had a good couple of years.
While on loan at Deportivo last term, he scored just nine goals in 37 appearances across all competitions despite being a key first team player by starting pretty much all of their games.
At Arsenal, he has seven goals in 21 games but most of them have been against lesser sides in Europe or domestic cups.
He would not be an upgrade on what West Ham already have in Javier Hernandez or Marko Arnautovic so it seems pointless to sign another centre-forward who would not be an upgrade on the current crop.
This is Futbol rating 5/10
Likely to happen?
It would be a bit out of the blue if this was to happen.
Perez is well out of the picture at Arsenal and West Ham have been linked with signing far better strikers than him this summer, but as the deadline day looms, they could be panic buying the Spaniard.
This is Futbol rating 6/10