Lucas Perez was briefly a very unpopular member of the West Ham United squad amongst the supporters.
While West Ham fans had plenty to smile about on Sunday as Manuel Pellegrini’s men picked up their first win of the season, it did appear that there was one negative story that the Hammers would have to deal with.
The 3-1 win at Everton was slightly marred by an apparent incident involving Lucas Perez. Sky Sports suggested on their live commentary of the game that Perez had refused to warm up before potentially replacing Marko Arnautovic at Goodison Park.
The pictures looked concerning as he appeared frustrated during a conversation with one of the coaches. And Michail Antonio coming on to replace Arnautovic prompted several West Ham supporters to vent their frustration towards the summer signing.
But Pellegrini played down any talk of Perez refusing to come on in his post-match interview with Sky Sports, and Perez has now cleared up the situation on social media, insisting that he never refused to warm up. The tweet saw several Hammers supporters praise the striker or apologise for any previous criticism.
Perez is quickly back in the majority of fans’ good books, and perhaps he may get the opportunity to complete the incredible turnaround this weekend given that Arnautovic did pick up the knock against the Toffees.
Arnautovic is expected to be fit, according to the London Evening Standard, but if Pellegrini is at all cautious with the forward, then perhaps it could be a golden opportunity for Perez to vindicate the club’s decision to sign him in the summer.
Arnautovic’s West Ham career was somewhat launched with the winning goal against the Blues at the London Stadium last season. And just a few days after some may have predicted that Perez’s Irons spell was over before it had really begun, perhaps the Spaniard could end up with the chance to emulate what his teammate did less than a year ago when Chelsea visit this time around.
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