West Ham Close to Finalising Deal for Arsenal Striker With Talks Planned for Coming Week

West Ham United have been investing heavily in their squad during the summer and are showing no signs of slowing down, as Arsenal striker Lucas Perez is close to becoming their latest addition.

Perez spent last season on loan with Deportivo la Coruna in Spain and is clearly not in new manager Unai Emery's plans for the upcoming season.

Links to West Ham have been rumoured for a while, and it appears as though the move may be finalised soon. Nicolo Schira, who writes for Italian outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport, tweeted to say that Perez and West Ham are set for talks on Monday to finalise the deal.

Schira is not the only journalist to suggest that a deal is almost done, as Di Marzio writer Francesco Porzio also took to Twitter to claim that Perez is close to becoming a West Ham player.

Perez began his career in Spain, but moved to Ukraine in 2011 following his release from Rayo Vallecano. He spent three years in Ukraine before moving to play for PAOK in Greece. 

He was given the chance to join his hometown Deportivo in 2014 and finally began to show a strong level of consistent form. The 2015-16 campaign saw Perez net 17 league goals, which caught the eye of Arsene Wenger.

Perez was brought to Arsenal for £17.1m in 2016, but has struggled to replicate his goalscoring form during his time in London. One goal in 11 Premier League appearances left many fans disappointed, and Perez was ultimately sent back on loan to Deportivo last season.

He netted nine goals in 37 appearances for Deportivo, but has clearly not done enough to impress Unai Emery. At West Ham, Perez will be hoping that he is afforded more opportunities to impress and rediscover his impressive form.