Lucas Perez inching closer to Deportivo return

After months of speculation, Lucas Perez is finally set to return to Spanish club Deportivo La Coruna after they increased their offer for the forward to €12 million.

Perez had a terrible debut season for Arsenal, scoring just once in 11 Premier League games, falling short of expectations after a highly anticipated £17.1 million move from Deportivo La Coruna.

The player was linked with a move to the Turkish Super League as well as Premier League rivals Newcastle, but all these teams were unwilling to match Arsenal's €15 million valuation of the forward, with Newcastle going only as high as €10 million.

Arsene Wenger has already given the Spaniard the green light to leave, saying in an interview recently: "I have opened the door for Lucas to leave because I have too many forwards." He even handed Perez's no. 9 jersey to new signing Alexandre Lacazette.

Perez's agent Rodrigo Fernandez arrived in London last week to try and facilitate a deal for his client and admitted that the best offer Arsenal had on the table was from Deportivo. Now, Spanish news outlet Marca is reporting that Perez is on the verge of returning to his former club after they increased their offer to €12 million, just €3 million shy of Arsenal's asking price. 

The North London club will likely accept this offer as they too want Perez to move on from their current wage bill as they still want to bring in Thomas Lemar from Monaco.