Lucas Pérez

Lucas Pérez Martínez (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈlukas ˈpeɾeθ maɾˈtineθ]; born 10 September 1988) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Primera Federación club Deportivo de La Coruña.

Not to be confused with Lucas Pérez Godoy.
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Pérez and the second or maternal family name is Martínez.

Lucas Pérez
Pérez with Karpaty Lviv in 2011
Personal information
Full name Lucas Pérez Martínez[1]
Date of birth (1988-09-10) 10 September 1988[2]
Place of birth A Coruña, Spain
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[3][2]
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Deportivo La Coruña
Number 7
Youth career
Victoria CF
Atlético Arteixo
Alavés
Montañeros
Órdenes
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2009 Atlético Madrid C 55 (18)
2009–2011 Rayo Vallecano B 44 (25)
2010–2011 Rayo Vallecano 6 (1)
2011–2013 Karpaty Lviv 51 (14)
2013 → Dynamo Kyiv (loan) 0 (0)
2013–2015 PAOK 32 (9)
2014–2015 → Deportivo La Coruña (loan) 21 (6)
2015–2016 Deportivo La Coruña 37 (18)
2016–2018 Arsenal 11 (1)
2017–2018 → Deportivo La Coruña (loan) 35 (8)
2018–2019 West Ham United 15 (3)
2019–2021 Alavés 62 (15)
2021–2022 Elche 18 (2)
2022 Cádiz 29 (6)
2023– Deportivo La Coruña 22 (8)
International career
2016 Galicia 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13:46, 25 September 2023 (UTC)

After spending the first years of his career in the lower leagues, only appearing sporadically for the first team of Rayo Vallecano in the Segunda División, he first made a name for himself with Karpaty Lviv in the Ukrainian Premier League. In 2013, he signed with PAOK from Greece, and later returned to La Liga with Deportivo, where he scored 32 goals in 93 matches.

Subsequently, he represented English clubs Arsenal and West Ham United in the Premier League, before rejoining Alavés where he had played as a youth.

Club career

Atlético and Rayo

Pérez was born in A Coruña, Galicia. After appearing for three clubs as a youth he moved to Madrid and joined Atlético Madrid's C team, playing two seasons in Tercera División. In summer 2009 he signed with Rayo Vallecano, helping the reserves promote from the same level in his first year.

In the 2010–11 season, Pérez contributed five games and one goal (in a 3–0 home win against Real Valladolid on 6 November 2010)[4] as Rayo returned to La Liga after eight years. He continued to be mainly registered with the B side, however.

Karpaty Lviv
Pérez after scoring a hat-trick for Karpaty in 2012

On 17 January 2011, free agent Pérez joined FC Karpaty Lviv on a three-year deal.[5] He scored his first goal for the team on 17 July, against FC Chornomorets Odesa in a 1–1 Ukrainian Premier League draw.

Pérez netted a hat-trick on 4 November 2012 in a 4–0 home victory over FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih, including a long-distance volley from a corner kick delivery.[6] In January 2013 he joined fellow league club FC Dynamo Kyiv on loan for the remainder of the campaign, and later labelled his experience as "a nightmare".[7]

PAOK and Deportivo La Coruña

On 5 July 2013, Pérez signed on a fee of €700,000 a three-year contract with Super League Greece team PAOK FC.[8] He scored his first competitive goal on 17 August, contributing to a 3–0 home defeat of Skoda Xanthi FC, and on 24 November he equalised in a 3–1 win over Aris Thessaloniki F.C. in the Derby of Northern Greece.[9] He also helped to a runner-up run in the national cup, losing the decisive match to Panathinaikos FC.[10]

On 18 July 2014, Pérez returned to Spain and joined his newly promoted hometown side Deportivo de La Coruña in a one-year loan deal, with a buyout clause.[11] He scored in his first official appearance, having started in a 3–0 home victory against Valencia CF on 19 October which also marked his La Liga debut.[12] The following matchday, he was replaced in the 15th minute of a 0–0 away draw at RCD Espanyol due to a knee injury.[13][14]

Pérez only returned to action in January 2015,[15] appearing 12 minutes in a 0–4 home loss against FC Barcelona.[16] On 23 May, against the same opponent at the Camp Nou, he helped Dépor come from behind by scoring in the 67th minute of a 2–2 draw in the last round that prevented relegation.[17]

On 23 July 2015, in his first competitive match upon his return to PAOK, against NK Lokomotiva in the second preliminary round of the UEFA Europa League, Pérez scored the opener after Róbert Mak's shot was saved, in an eventual 6–0 home rout.[18] One week later, against FC Spartak Trnava for the same competition, he netted the game's only goal in the first leg.[19]

On 12 August 2015, Pérez signed a permanent four-year deal with Deportivo.[20] On 12 December, he took his season tally to 11 goals in only 15 games, helping to a 2–2 draw with Barcelona.[21]

Pérez totalled a career-best 17 goals at the end of the campaign, eventually helping his team escape relegation again.[22]

Arsenal

On 27 August 2016, Arsène Wenger said that Pérez had completed a medical examination in order to join Arsenal after the paperwork was done.[23][24] Three days later, the transfer was confirmed by the club for a reported fee of £17.1 million.[25] He made his competitive debut in the 2–1 Premier League home win over Southampton on 10 September, which coincided with both his birthday and that of teammate Laurent Koscielny, whom he assisted for his team's equaliser.[26]

On 20 September 2016, during an EFL Cup away match against Nottingham Forest, Pérez scored his first goals for the Gunners, grabbing a brace in an eventual 4–0 victory in the third round.[27] On 6 December, he contributed three goals in 39 minutes to a 4–1 away victory over FC Basel in the UEFA Champions League's group stage, helping Arsenal win the group.[28]

On 3 January 2017, Pérez netted for the first time in the domestic league, helping his team come back from 3–0 down to draw 3–3 at AFC Bournemouth.[29] Towards the end of the month, he provided an assist to Danny Welbeck's first-ever brace for Arsenal, in a 5–0 away win against Southampton in the FA Cup.[30]

On 31 August 2017, Pérez rejoined Deportivo on a season-long loan deal.[31]

West Ham United

On 9 August 2018, Pérez signed a three-year contract with West Ham United for a reported fee of £4 million.[32] He made his league debut for his new club nine days later, coming on as a 77th-minute substitute for Mark Noble in a 1–2 home loss to Bournemouth.[33] He scored his first goal for them on 26 September, in their 8–0 demolition of Macclesfield Town in the EFL Cup.[34]

On 4 December 2018, Pérez scored his first league goals for 700 days: coming on for Marko Arnautović, he scored twice in a 3–1 home victory against Cardiff City, becoming the first West Ham player to achieve the feat as a substitute since Paulo Wanchope in 2000.[35]

Alavés

In May 2019, West Ham accepted an offer from Deportivo Alavés for Peréz for a fee of €2.5m subject to a medical.[36] He officially signed for the club on 3 June,[37] making his league debut on 18 August by playing the last minutes of the 1–0 home victory over Levante UD.[38] He scored his first goal on 29 September, the first in a 2–0 win against RCD Mallorca also at Mendizorrotza Stadium.[39]

On 29 October 2019, Pérez equalised in a 1–1 home draw with Atlético Madrid, becoming the first Alavés player to score in five consecutive La Liga games since 1955.[40] He repeated the feat the following match (at CA Osasuna, 4–2 loss), and in the process became their first player to achieve that in six consecutive fixtures.[41] He found the net for the seventh time on 9 November against Real Valladolid, becoming the first player in the history of the competition to score in seven consecutive matches with two different teams, as he had done it before with Deportivo.[42]

Pérez terminated his contract on 18 August 2021.[43]

Elche and Cádiz

On 31 August 2021, free agent Pérez signed a one-year deal with Elche CF, still in the top tier.[44] The following 31 January, he moved to Cádiz CF of the same league on a 18-month contract.[45]

Fourth spell at Deportivo

Pérez agreed to a return to Deportivo on 31 December 2022, with the deal being made effective at the opening of the January transfer window;[46] the player himself paid €493,000 in order to be released.[47][48] He scored a brace on his Primera Federación debut eight days later, in a 3–0 win over Unionistas de Salamanca CF.[49]

International career

Pérez earned his first cap for the Galicia autonomous team on 20 May 2016, appearing in the 2–2 friendly with Venezuela.[50]

Career statistics
As of match played on 27 May 2023[51][52]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] League cup[lower-alpha 2] Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Rayo Vallecano 2009–10 Segunda División 1000——10
2010–11 Segunda División 5100——51
Total 6100——61
Rayo Vallecano B 2009–10 Tercera División 3020— — —3020
2010–11 Segunda División B 145— — —145
Total 4425———4425
Karpaty Lviv 2010–11 Ukrainian Premier League 8000——80
2011–12 Ukrainian Premier League 26640—4[lower-alpha 3]1347
2012–13 Ukrainian Premier League 17810——188
Total 511450—416015
Dynamo Kyiv (loan) 2012–13 Ukrainian Premier League 0000—0000
PAOK 2013–14 Super League Greece 32960—12[lower-alpha 4]15010
2015–16 Super League Greece 0000—2[lower-alpha 3]222
Total 32960—1435212
Deportivo (loan) 2014–15 La Liga 21600——216
Deportivo 2015–16 La Liga 361710——3717
2016–17 La Liga 1100——11
Total 582410——5924
Arsenal 2016–17 Premier League 11132413[lower-alpha 5]3217
Deportivo (loan) 2017–18 La Liga 35821——379
West Ham United 2018–19 Premier League 1531132—196
Alavés 2019–20 La Liga 341100——3411
2020–21 La Liga 28400——284
Total 621500——6215
Elche 2021–22 La Liga 18210——192
Cádiz 2021–22 La Liga 15311——164
2022–23 La Liga 14311——154
Total 29622——318
Deportivo 2022–23 Primera Federación 19800——198
Career total 38011621673217429132
  1. Includes Copa del Rey, Ukrainian Cup, Greek Football Cup, FA Cup
  2. Includes EFL Cup
  3. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, eight appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
  5. Appearances in UEFA Champions League

Honours

PAOK

Arsenal

References
  1. "Acta del partido celebrado el 20 de mayo de 2018, en Valencia" [Minutes of the match held on 20 May 2018, in Valencia] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. 20 May 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  2. "Lucas Pérez: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  3. Lucas Pérez at AS.com (in Spanish)
  4. "Armenteros y Lucas tumban al Valladolid y lanzan al Rayo" [Armenteros and Lucas down Valladolid and propel Rayo]. Marca (in Spanish). 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  5. ОФІЦІЙНО. "Карпати" підписали іспанського нападника [Official. Karpaty signed Spanish striker] (in Ukrainian). FC Karpaty Lviv. 17 January 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  6. "'Mendietazo' del ex rayista Lucas en su 'hat-trick' con el Karpaty" ['Goal à la Mendieta' from former Rayo player Lucas in his hat-trick for Karpaty]. Marca (in Spanish). 5 November 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  7. "Lucas Pérez: "En el Dinamo de Kiev pasé los peores cuatro meses de mi vida"" [Lucas Pérez: "I spent the worst four months of my life at Dinamo Kiev"]. Marca (in Spanish). 16 January 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  8. "Football: PAOK sign Spyropoulos and Lucas Perez – club". GlobalPost. 6 July 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  9. "PAOK beats Aris 3–1 in Greek league". Special Broadcasting Service. 25 November 2013. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  10. Papantonopoulou, Vassiliki (26 April 2014). "Berg inspires Panathiakos [sic] to Greek Cup triumph". UEFA. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  11. "Lucas Pérez firma su contrato y se entrenará mañana sábado en Abegondo" [Lucas Pérez signs his contract and will train tomorrow Saturday in Abegondo] (in Spanish). Deportivo La Coruña. 18 July 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
  12. G. Lifona, Daniel (19 October 2014). "Cavaleiro y Lucas Pérez revolucionan al Dépor" [Cavaleiro and Lucas Pérez shake Dépor up]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  13. Aldunate, Ramiro (26 October 2014). "El Espanyol echa de menos a Sergio García" [Espanyol miss Sergio García]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  14. "Las lesiones se ceban con Lucas Pérez" [Injuries all over Lucas Pérez]. La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 26 October 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  15. "Lucas vuelve a convocatoria del Deportivo casi tres meses después" [Lucas returns to a Deportivo callup after nearly three months]. Sport (in Spanish). 17 January 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  16. Rincón, Jaime (18 January 2015). "Vuelve el insaciable Messi" [The insatiable Messi returns]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  17. Aldunate, Ramiro (23 May 2015). "El Barça indulta al Dépor" [Barça pardon Dépor]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  18. "Like a revolver gun". PAOK FC. 23 July 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  19. "Europa League: Ο ΠΑΟΚ νίκησε 1–0 την Σπάρτακ Τρνάβα και ελπίζει" [Europa League: PAOK defeat Spartak Trnava 1–0 and hope]. Naftemporiki (in Greek). 30 July 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  20. "Lucas Pérez, nuevo jugador del Dépor para las cuatro próximas temporadas" [Lucas Pérez, new player of Dépor for the following four seasons] (in Spanish). Deportivo La Coruña. 12 August 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  21. "Barcelona held by Deportivo La Coruna as Lucas fires comeback". ESPN FC. 12 December 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  22. Cobas, Eugenio (7 September 2016). "Es imposible pedirle a alguien los 17 goles y ocho asistencias de Lucas" ["You cannot ask of anyone for Lucas' 17 goals and eight assists"]. La Opinión A Coruña (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  23. Morrissey, Paul (27 August 2016). "Arsenal boss confirms Lucas Perez and Shkodran Mustafi have been signed (Video)". 101 Great Goals. Archived from the original on 13 September 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  24. "Lucas Perez completes move to Arsenal". Arsenal F.C. 28 August 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  25. "Arsenal sign Shkodran Mustafi for more than £35m and Lucas Perez for £17.1m". BBC Sport. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  26. Malyon, Ed (10 September 2016). "Arsenal hand full debuts to Lucas Perez and Shkodran Mustafi for visit of Southampton". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  27. "Nottingham Forest 0–4 Arsenal". BBC Sport. 20 September 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  28. Shemilt, Stephan (6 December 2016). "FC Basel 1–4 Arsenal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  29. Sanghera, Mandeep (3 January 2017). "AFC Bournemouth 3–3 Arsenal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  30. Wallace, Sam (28 February 2017). "Southampton 0 Arsenal 5, FA Cup: Gunners dispatch sorry Saints as Theo Walcott scores hat-trick and Danny Welbeck grabs a double". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  31. De la Cruz, Luis (31 August 2017). "Lucas Pérez returns to Deportivo on a year-long loan". Diario AS. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  32. "West Ham: Lucas Perez and Carlos Sanchez complete transfer deadline day moves". BBC Sport. 9 August 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  33. Emons, Michael (18 August 2018). "West Ham United 1–2 AFC Bournemouth". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  34. "West Ham 8–0 Macclesfield: Hammers thrash Macclesfield to reach fourth round". BBC Sport. 26 September 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  35. Sanders, Emma (4 December 2018). "West Ham United 3–1 Cardiff City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  36. "West Ham agree to sell Lucas Perez to Alaves". Sky Sports. 31 May 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  37. Muro, Giuseppe (3 June 2019). "West Ham continue summer clear-out as Lucas Perez returns to Spain with Alaves". Evening Standard. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  38. Lara, Lorenzo (18 August 2019). "Joselu y Pacheco dan la primera victoria al Alavés" [Joselu and Pacheco give the first win to Alavés]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  39. García, Óscar (29 September 2019). "Lucas Perez and Joselu fire Alaves to victory over Mallorca". Marca. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  40. Benson, Ryan (30 October 2019). "Deportivo Alaves 1–1 Atletico Madrid: Late Perez stunner denies Simeone's men chance to go top". The Hindu. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  41. "Lucas Perez sets Alaves goalscoring record with penalty against Osasuna". beIN Sports. 3 November 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  42. Mejías, Noelia (9 November 2019). "Lucas Pérez, único en LaLiga" [Lucas Pérez, one of a kind in LaLiga] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  43. "Lucas Pérez finaliza su etapa en el Deportivo Alavés" [Lucas Pérez ends his spell at Deportivo Alavés] (in Spanish). Deportivo Alavés. 18 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  44. "FICHAJE | Lucas Pérez firma por una temporada con el Elche CF" [SIGNING | Lucas Pérez signs for one season with Elche CF] (in Spanish). Elche CF. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  45. "Lucas Pérez cierra el mercado invernal" [Lucas Pérez completes the winter transfer market] (in Spanish). Cádiz CF. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  46. "Traspaso de Lucas Pérez al RC Deportivo" [Transfer of Lucas Pérez to Deportivo] (in Spanish). Cádiz CF. 31 December 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  47. Jiménez, Francisco José (30 December 2022). "No hay marcha atrás: Lucas Pérez paga de su bolsillo para irse del Cádiz" [No turning back: Lucas Pérez uses own money to leave Cádiz] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  48. "Paga medio millón de euros para irse de un equipo de Primera a Tercera" [He pays half a million euros in order to leave Primera team to go to Tercera]. Olé (in Spanish). 31 December 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  49. Martín, José Manuel (8 January 2023). "El enorme gesto de Lucas Pérez en su debut con el Deportivo" [The enormous gesture of Lucas Pérez in his debut with Deportivo]. La Razón (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  50. Bouzas, Fabián (20 May 2016). "La selección gallega empata con Venezuela en su fiesta del fútbol" [Galicia national team draw with Venezuela in their football party]. La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  51. Lucas Pérez at Soccerway
  52. Lucas Pérez at FBref.com
  53. McNulty, Phil (27 May 2017). "Arsenal 2–1 Chelsea". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
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