Arsenal
Which team did Lucas Pérez play for in Dec 2016?
Lucas Pérez Lucas Pérez Martínez ( , born 10 September 1988 ) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Deportivo Alavés . After spending the first years of his career in the lower leagues , only appearing sporadically for the first team of Rayo Vallecano in the Segunda División , he first made a name for himself with Karpaty Lviv in the Ukrainian Premier League . In 2013 , he signed with PAOK from Greece , and later returned to La Liga with Deportivo , where he scored 32 goals in 93 matches . Subsequently , he represented English clubs Arsenal and West Ham United in the Premier League , before rejoining Alavés where he had played as a youth . Club career . Atlético and Rayo . Pérez was born in A Coruña , Galicia . After appearing for three clubs as a youth he moved to Madrid and joined Atlético Madrids C team , playing two seasons in Tercera División . In summer 2009 he signed with Rayo Vallecano , helping the reserves promote from the same level in his first year . In the 2010–11 season , Pérez contributed five games and one goal ( in a 3–0 home win against Real Valladolid on 6 November 2010 ) as Rayo returned to La Liga after eight years . He continued to be mainly registered with the B side , however . Karpaty Lviv . On 17 January 2011 , free agent Pérez joined FC Karpaty Lviv on a three-year deal . He scored his first goal for the team on 17 July , against FC Chornomorets Odesa in a 1–1 Ukrainian Premier League draw . Pérez netted a hat-trick on 4 November 2012 in a 4–0 home victory over FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih , including a long-distance volley from a corner kick delivery . In January 2013 he joined fellow league club FC Dynamo Kyiv on loan for the remainder of the campaign , and later labelled his experience as a nightmare . PAOK and Deportivo . On 5 July 2013 , Pérez signed on a fee of €700,000 a three-year contract with Super League Greece team PAOK FC . He scored his first competitive goal on 17 August , contributing to a 3–0 home defeat of Skoda Xanthi FC , and on 24 November he equalised in a 3–1 win over Aris Thessaloniki F.C . in the Derby of Northern Greece . He also helped to a runner-up run in the national cup , losing the decisive match to Panathinaikos FC . On 18 July 2014 , Pérez returned to Spain and joined his newly promoted hometown side Deportivo de La Coruña in a one-year loan deal , with a buyout clause . He scored in his first official appearance , having started in a 3–0 home victory against Valencia CF on 19 October which also marked his La Liga debut . The following matchday , he was replaced in the 15th minute of a 0–0 away draw at RCD Espanyol due to a knee injury . Pérez only returned to action in January of the following year , appearing 12 minutes in a 0–4 home loss against FC Barcelona . On 23 May , against the same opponent at the Camp Nou , he helped Dépor come from behind by scoring in the 67th minute of a 2–2 draw in the last round that prevented relegation . On 23 July 2015 , in his first competitive match upon his return to PAOK , against NK Lokomotiva in the second preliminary round of the UEFA Europa League , Pérez scored the opener after Róbert Maks shot was saved , in an eventual 6–0 home rout . One week later , against FC Spartak Trnava for the same competition , he netted the games only goal in the first leg . On 12 August 2015 , Pérez signed a permanent four-year deal with Deportivo . On 12 December , he took his season tally to 11 goals in only 15 games , helping to a 2–2 draw with Barcelona . Pérez totalled a career-best 17 goals at the end of the campaign , eventually helping his team escape relegation again . Arsenal . On 27 August 2016 , Arsène Wenger said that Pérez had completed a medical examination in order to join Arsenal after the paperwork was done . Three days later , the transfer was confirmed by the club for a reported fee of £17.1 million . He made his competitive debut in the 2–1 Premier League home win over Southampton on 10 September , which coincided with both his birthday and that of teammate Laurent Koscielny , whom he assisted for his teams equaliser . On 20 September 2016 , during an EFL Cup away match against Nottingham Forest , Pérez scored his first goals for the Gunners , grabbing a brace in an eventual 4–0 victory in the third round . On 6 December , he contributed three goals in 39 minutes to a 4–1 away defeat of FC Basel in the UEFA Champions Leagues group stage , helping Arsenal win the group . On 3 January 2017 , Pérez netted for the first time in the domestic league , helping his team come back from 3–0 down to draw 3–3 at AFC Bournemouth . Towards the end of the month , he provided an assist to Danny Welbecks first-ever brace for Arsenal , in a 5–0 away win against Southampton in the FA Cup . On 31 August 2017 , Pérez rejoined Deportivo on a season-long loan deal . West Ham United . On 9 August 2018 , Pérez signed a three-year contract with West Ham United for a reported fee of £4 million . He made his league debut for his new club nine days later , coming on as a 77th-minute substitute for Mark Noble in a 1–2 home loss to Bournemouth . He scored his first goal for them on 26 September , in their 8–0 demolition of Macclesfield Town in the EFL Cup . On 4 December 2018 , Pérez scored his first league goals for 700 days : coming on for Marko Arnautović , he scored twice in a 3–1 home victory against Cardiff City , becoming the first West Ham player to achieve the feat as a substitute since Paulo Wanchope in 2000 . Alavés . In May 2019 , West Ham accepted an offer from Deportivo Alavés for Peréz for a fee of €2.5m subject to a medical . He officially signed for the club on 3 June , making his league debut on 18 August by playing the last minutes of the 1–0 home victory over Levante UD . He scored his first goal on 29 September , the first in a 2–0 win against RCD Mallorca also at Mendizorrotza Stadium . On 29 October 2019 , Pérez equalised in a 1–1 home draw with Atlético Madrid , becoming the first Alavés player to score in five consecutive La Liga games since 1955 . He repeated the feat the following match ( at CA Osasuna , 4–2 loss ) , and in the process became their first player to achieve that in six consecutive fixtures . He found the net for the seventh time on 9 November against Real Valladolid , becoming the first player in the history of the competition to score in seven consecutive matches with two different teams , as he had done it before with Deportivo . International career . Pérez earned his first cap for the Galicia autonomous team on 20 May 2016 , appearing in the 2–2 friendly with Venezuela . Honours . PAOK - Greek Football Cup runner-up : 2013–14 Arsenal - FA Cup : 2016–17 External links . - Stats at Resultados Fútbol