Lucas Perez set to leave Arsenal after just one season despite personal plea to stay from Arsene Wenger
Perez looking at a return to Spain for regular football after struggling to get game time under Wenger at the Emirates
LUCAS PEREZ is ready to quit Arsenal despite a personal plea from Arsene Wenger for him to stay at the club.
Perez wants to leave the Emirates after just a year because he needs to be playing more regular first team football.
The 28-year-old has struggled to make an impact with the Gunners following his £17.5million move from Deportivo La Coruna last summer.
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And though Wenger is keen for the Spanish striker to stay on in north London, Perez is ready to seek a move back to his home country.
Wenger admitted he had not treated Perez as fairly as he would have liked last season as he largely used the forward as a bake-up player.
He said: "I would love to keep him, but we have to sit down and see if he has a realistic chance to play.
"He is a top-quality striker but I could not give him the games he wants and deserves, I confess that.
"I feel a bit sorry for him."
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Perez has no personal problem with the Gunners boss, but he fears he will still find his starting opportunities limited if he stays with Arsenal for another season.
He only made 21 appearances for the club last season, scoring seven goals, as he found Alexis Sanchez, Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck ahead of him.
And with him still hoping to secure a place in the Spain squad for next year's World Cup in Russia, Perez knows he needs to be playing and scoring regularly.
The striker would also have been aware that the Gunners are heavily in the transer market looking to bring in new forwards this summer.
Wenger has been working hard trying to convince Kylian Mbappe to swap Monaco for North London even though the Gunners would have to pay over £100m for the teenager.
And he is also making a serious play to convince Alexandre Lacazette to leave Lyon even though the Gunners can only offer the £50m-rated star Europa League football.
Former club Deportivo and Sevilla are among the La Liga clubs who have registered an interest in taking Perez back to Spain.