Former Arsenal star 'pays €500,000 of his own money' to join third division club

Former Arsenal forward Lucas Perez has reportedly paid some of his own money to complete a transfer to Spanish third division side Deportivo La Coruna.

Perez has played football in his home country since departing West Ham in 2019, having spent an unsuccessful two-year stint at Arsenal.

The 34-year-old scored seven goals in 21 games for the Gunners, but struggled for form in the Premier League and was loaned back to Deportivo, where he was signed from, in the 2017/18 season. He then moved to West Ham permanently.

Perez made the move to Alaves in 2019, before spells at Elche and Cadiz.

He has netted three goals in 14 La Liga appearances for the latter this term, making him the side's leading league goalscorer.

But he has made a somewhat surprising move in dropping down two divisions - and the circumstances behind the move are certainly unusual.

Ex-Arsenal forward Perez joins new club

A total of 22 years since their first and only La Liga title win, Deportivo are stranded in the third tier of Spanish football.

They were relegated from the second division in 2020, failing to win promotion in either of the two seasons since.

In this campaign, Deportivo sit fourth, four points behind league leaders Cordoba, meaning another opportunity to return to the second tier is very much on.

And they have gained some extra support in the form of Perez, who was reportedly desperate to return to his former club According to Spanish outlet AS, Cadiz wanted a fee in the region of €500,000 from Deportivo to sell one of their star assets, which originally caused the one-time La Liga champions to pull out of the deal.

But the same source claims that after Perez decided to pay an 'important part of the transfer out of his pocket', the deal was able to proceed. Journalist Maxi Angelo claims he has paid €500,000.

The 34-year-old will now attempt to guide his former club back through the divisions, and although it might be some time before they can relive previous glories, the signing is a major coup for Deportivo.