A long-term lay-off is hardly the ideal way to adapt to English football, and Lucas Perez is still yet to recover from that dangerous challenge.
Arsenal striker Lucas Perez has criticised the challenge of Reading defender Danzell Gravenberch that left him sidelined for up to two months, as reported by The Mirror.
The Spaniard was finally starting to make a name for himself in Arsene Wenger’s first-team after enduring a slow start to life in English football following his summer arrival from Deportivo.
He had set up two goals in Arsenal’s 6-0 thrashing of Ludogorets in the Champions League in an impressive cameo that hinted at the reasons why The Gunners were willing to part with a hefty fee for his services.
However, his progress was stalled when Gravenberch clattered into his ankle in the second half of Arsenal’s 2-0 EFL Cup win against Reading last month, and Lucas has now hit out at the challenge.
“The injury is a shame, but we have to fight,” he said in Marca, as reported by The Mirror.
“I didn’t understand where the player was going with the tackle, but these are just occupational hazards.”
The injury resulted in something of a war of words between Reading manager Jaap Stam and Wenger, with the former laughing off the Frenchman’s suggestion that the tackle was intended to cause damage to the player rather than to win the ball.
And, with The Sun reporting that Alexis Sanchez could be out for up to six weeks after suffering a muscle injury on international duty with Chile, Arsenal will be hoping Olivier Giroud maintains his impressive return to action with potentially season-defining clashes with Manchester United and PSG on the horizon.
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