When Lucas Perez scored against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, many West Ham United fans were left with mixed reactions to the news.
The forward left the Hammers and joined Deportivo Alaves for an undisclosed fee in June 2019 and appears to have settled back into life in his native country with ease. In Spain, the 31-year-old has scored five goals in 11 games for his new club.
The Spanish striker was rated 7.9/10 in the game against Atletico Madrid, making him the man of the match – as per WhoScored. With the Sebastien Haller isolation talk still rife, you can’t blame one fan wondering how the players would have linked up in a two-striker formation.
Never given a fair chance with us.
I genuinely thought he was the best finisher at the club last season. https://t.co/824oYCOlOK
— West Ham Fan Zone (@WHUFCFZ) October 29, 2019
He was given plenty of chances by us and Arsenal,couldn’t cut it,found his level.
— Andy Wellbelove (@andywellie) October 29, 2019
He’s got a good goal ratio this season too
— Craig Jackman (@75_chicoIron) October 29, 2019
I saw him play a couple times and he never impressed me
— Adam Whayman (@WhaymanAdam) October 29, 2019
always liked perez. 6 goals in 19 games especially as mostly coming off the bench is a decent return. should have stayed
— Adam Murphy (@adzer32) October 30, 2019
Perez appears to have become ridiculously clinical this season for Alaves, with the Spaniard only averaging 1.1 shots per game and still managing to put the ball into the back of the net on five occasions.
He never fitted into pellagrini.s tactics that don’t work
— west ham stewart (@Stewart88443909) October 30, 2019
Think he would have been good with haller
— andrew wickstead (@AndrewWickstead) October 30, 2019
What Do We Think?
At 31-years-old, Perez may only have two more solid seasons left, so for West Ham to have moved him on and for an undisclosed fee, could be considered just good business from the Hammers.
Albian Ajeti has not been the replacement the Irons would have had hoped for, playing just 20 minutes so far this season. However, the Swiss striker is nine years younger than Perez at just 22-years-old, so there is still time for him to find his feet in east London and get to grips with the Premier League.