Perez Continuing To Show He Was A Better Choice Than Buying Jamie Vardy

Perez Continuing To Show He Was A Better Choice Than Buying Jamie Vardy

Jamie Vardy bagged his first goal since mid-December in Leicester’s 2-1 loss to Sevilla in their Champions League round of 16 clash on Wednesday night.

The goal salvaged hope for Claudio Ranieri’s side, who welcome the La Liga outfit to the King Power in March, having been second best all night long.


Whilst Europe’s top competition may no longer be of interest to Arsenal fans this season, given the 5-1 deficit they must overturn against Bayern Munich in their own second leg tie, the events in Seville on Wednesday, do point to one thing that has worked in their favour this term.

There was a protracted saga at the back end of last season, and in the build up to the European Championships, surrounding the future of Jamie Vardy, who was a £20m target for Arsenal.

Even at the time, given the sensational season the former Fleetwood Town striker had just enjoyed, the link seemed a peculiar one. Everyone who takes an interest in football understood that what the Foxes had done, with average players, was a one-off, an anomaly.

However, Arsenal were in need of a striker and, for manager Arsene Wenger, Vardy fitted the bill. In the end, and in more than likely to his regret, Vardy opted to stay put with Leicester and the Gunners moved onto new targets.

Come the end of the summer window and Wenger had turned to Deportivo la Coruna striker, Lucas Perez, to solve his striking issues.

Whilst the Spaniard, who was brought in for a fee of £17m, didn’t exactly get off to a flying start in English football, he has, in more recent weeks been a trustworthy option to turn to.

It may have been a National League side that he bagged a goal against earlier this week but it was, nonetheless, an important strike. The Gunners had looked off the pace in the stages leading up to the goal and were in need of Perez’s opener to settle things a little and get them on the way to a quarter-final tie with Lincoln City.

In the wake of the game, many fans have been calling for the summer signing to be given more of a chance in the first team, given his reliability off the bench the further we have got into the season.

On the other hand, whilst you can never be sure of what could have been if he had made the switch to north London, Vardy has managed just six goals in competitive games all season, with three of those coming against Manchester City.

Whilst Perez, who is two years Vardy’s junior, has managed just one more than the Leicester man for the Gunners, he has had far less game time than the 30-year-old would have been afforded after a summer move.

With that in mind, while there was a desperate clamour for a striker in the summer, and some displeasure when Perez was announced as the answer to those calls, it appears Wenger has more than dodged a bullet this time around.