As per The Shields Gazette, Newcastle abandoned a late summer bid to sign Arsenal’s Lucas Perez, who returned to Deportivo La Coruna few hours to Thursday’s transfer deadline.
Having been restricted to just 11 EPL appearances in his maiden topflight campaign with Arsenal last term, the 28-year-old alerted the club and suitors of his willingness to leave the Emirates this summer.
As a result, Newcastle were keen on bringing the Spaniard to Saint James’ Park in order to add quality to their attack, with manager Rafa Benitez convinced he had the quality to help fire Newcastle to Premier League safety.
Perez secured a £17.1million move to north London last summer following a splendid campaign with the La Liga club.
The former Rayo Vallecano man scored 18 league goals in his last 37 games for La Coruna, subsequently attracting a lot of suitors.
Perez would sure have been a great addition to the Toons’ attack had he been brought on.
However, Benitez would now have to make do with the current crop of strikers at his helm as he attempts to lead the Tynesiders into retaining their topflight status at the end of the campaign.
