Arsenal risk repeating £17m striker mistake with Edu weighing up golden boot contender

Arsenal have had some signings in their history who have failed to reach the heights of expectation, some even landing themselves firmly in the category of ‘flop’ despite so much promise ahead of the transfer.

One such Arsenal player was Lucas Perez. The Spanish international arrived from Deportivo de la Coruna for a figure in the region of £17 million after scoring 17 goals in La Liga and assisting a further ten. Impressive numbers, however, Arsene Wenger never put faith in the Spaniard, instead, continuing with Olivier Giroud despite the Frenchman’s troubles.

Perez would leave just a season later, returning to Deportivo on loan before a permanent departure to West Ham United in 2018. It would be a similar story for him in east London before eventually returning to La Liga.

Arsenal face a similarly desperate situation to add firepower to their ranks as they did in 2016, however, the pressure of the January window has made the situation that much harder.

Arsenal are said to be interested in 27-year-old Espanyol striker Raul de Tomas according to AS. Also known as RDT, the Spaniard came through the ranks at Real Madrid before leaving for Benfica after a number of loans.

Returning to Spain with Espanyol he has finally established himself and sits in joint second for the Pachichi trophy, La Liga golden boot award, at present with 12 goals this season. Five behind Karim Benzema who is unlikely to be caught barring injury.

Espanyol do not need to sell and do not have to sell meaning the eggs are firmly in their basket. Arsenal would need to tempt them with a significant offer and could even need to go as high as the €70 million (£59m) release clause. An increase on the previous clause after he made his la Roja senior