Arsene Wenger has finally confirmed that the club have completed the signings of Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez, after the North London club’s 3-1 win over Watford.
The duo, Mustafi joining from Valencia and Perez from Deportivo La Coruna, will cost Arsenal more than £50m, taking their summer spending to over £80m.
Mustafi has been linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium for a number of weeks now, and the deal is expected to be in the region of £35m. The Germany international will link up with his new teammates after the international break.
Lucas, meanwhile, makes a £17.1m switch to North London and will join Arsenal training in the coming days to provide competition for the likes of Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez up front.
The players were expected to arrive for their medicals on Friday and Wenger said that no announcement would be made then, but speaking after the match against Watford on Saturday, when he watched his side get their first win of the season, the manager confirmed the deals were done. According to Sky Sports News, the Frenchman said:
“We have bought two players Mustafi and Perez. They will integrate into the team now and we will help them join squad. We had to work very hard to get signings done. We have not got any plans for anyone else now,”
Here is a tweet corresponding the same.
https://twitter.com/arseblog/status/769568165626085376
Perez is expected to push Giroud for a starting spot. The striker began his career at youth level with Atletico Madrid and has since played for Rayo Vallecano, Karpaty Lviv, Dinamo Kiev (loan), PAOK, and most recently Deportivo. He is yet to earn a cap for Spain but is quick and can play the wing or as a central striker
Wenger was under pressure to recruit a new hitman ahead of next Wednesday’s transfer deadline, but with his signing, it is more or less business done for Arsenal up front.
Though this signing is unlikely to please those Arsenal fans calling for a glamor arrival, any deal for Perez is likely to relieve the burden on French striker Olivier Giroud’s shoulders.
Arsenal have needed a striker and a defender all summer, but Wenger has repeatedly cited inflated prices in the transfer market to explain his reluctance to spend big. Wenger spending £100m in a single transfer window is no less than a miracle but he has silenced his doubters with the double swoop.
Now the next aim should be the Premier League. Can we win it or should we be satisfied with another year of runners up ?
