Newcastle enter race for Lucas Perez

Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez sees the Arsenal flop as a solid addition to his squad and will lodge a bid for the Spaniard in the coming days.

According to the Evening Standard, Benitez enquired about Lucas Perez last week and is readying a bid for the Spaniard in the next few days.

The 28-year-old forward is desperate for a move away from the north London club and flew in his agent Rodrigo Fernandez to London to facilitate a transfer. Perez's former club Deportivo was thought to be the likeliest destination. Fernandez was quoted by Football.London as saying: "I’m waiting for Arsenal to come back to me but the best offer they have on the table for Lucas is from Deportivo."

"At Arsenal, they know he’s going to play very little there and they know that Deportivo want him. It would be good for everyone to sell Lucas Perez. We have to convince them."

However, Arsenal have increased their asking price for Perez and now want £13.4 million, which might prove too high for Deportivo. Newcastle are believed to be more than capable to fork out this sum but will try to get Perez for £10 million. 

The forward only started two Premier League games, scoring just once in 11 league games. However, he previously impressed at Deportivo, scoring 17 goals in 37 games and Benitez will hope that he can add to their firepower up front. 

Dwight Gayle was Newcastle's leading goalscorer last season, scoring 23 goals in 34 games. However, the Magpies seemed to be over-reliant on him for goals as their other two forwards - Ayoze Perez and Aleksandar Mitrovic - only scored a total of 18 goals.