Lucas Perez scored on his dream Deportivo debut and the atmosphere was incredible
Lucas Perez struck twice on his Deportivo debut after paying part of his own transfer fee to return home.
Lucas Perez scored twice on a dream debut for boyhood club Deportivo La Coruna in a fairytale return.
The former Arsenal forward was playing in La Liga with Cadiz but has dropped down the leagues to rejoin Deportivo, who are now playing in the third division of Spanish football.
Perez "couldn't stand" seeing the club in such a state and he signed a one-and-a-half year deal but paid nearly half of his own transfer fee (£440,000) to make the move happen.
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The first game of the 34-year-old's third spell took place against Unionstas in the Primera Division RFEF and Perez made his mark with a brace.
For his opener, he latched onto a delicious pass in behind and rounded the goalkeeper before slotting the ball into the empty net.
Estadio Riazor erupted and the noise was absolutely deafening when the announcer got on the tannoy and shouted out Perez's name.
You would not think it was a third tier game but then again Deportivo, once Champions League semi-finalists, do have 24,000 season ticket holders.
He helped himself to a second in a comfortable 3-0 win for the Galician outfit. Perez is closing in on 100 appearances for Depor and is desperate to steer them back into the second division.
They currently sit in fourth position, just four points behind table toppers Cordoba after 18 rounds of fixtures.
Perez scored 17 times for Depor while they were in the top flight back in 2015/16 and sealed a lucrative move to Arsenal as a result.
"This is not Lucas Perez's club," he said at his official presentation.
"It is the city's club, the fans' club, the club of many kids, many mums and dads.
"People talk about this being me going to play in [the third division], but I don't see it like that: I see it as going to play at Deportivo."
Josh Lawless