Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez has admitted an interest in signing Arsenal outcast Lucas Perez.
The Spanish forward wants to leave Arsenal just 12 months after completing a £17m switch from Deportivo La Coruna and was left incensed after his No.9 jersey was handed to club-record signing Alexandre Lacazette without his consent earlier this summer.
Perez has been heavily linked with a move back to Deportivo but Benitez is keen to offer the 28-year-old a way to stay in the Premier League, although Arsenal are demanding £13.4m for his signature.
“I like the player because I have good friends in A Coruna,” the London Evening Standard quote Benitez as saying after their 2-0 win over Hellas Verona.
“I know that he did really well. He’s come here and not played many games, but I like the player.
“We know what we need and will try to do it until the end of the transfer window. We are now trying to work in different directions at the time.”
Lucas Perez: Played a direct hand in a Champions League goal more frequently than any other player last season (every 27.2 mins of action) pic.twitter.com/WFibhgYKr0
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) July 28, 2017
Perez, who was left out of the Arsenal squad for their Community Shield win over Chelsea on Sunday, only made two starts in the Premier League last season and game time was also limited in the Champions League.
However, Perez played a direct hand in a Champions League goal more frequently than any other player in the competition last season (1 every 27.2 minutes of action).
