West Ham United have already started planning summer recruitments, and it seems Slaven Bilic is keen to bolster his attacking department. According to reports from The Times, the Hammers have made an inquiry about signing Arsenal striker, Lucas Perez, in the summer. Perez joined the Gunners last summer from Deportivo La Coruna for a reported fee of £17.1m. However, he has only made 15 appearances for the Gunners, and has six goals to his name.

What has been frustrating in his case is that he has made only two starts in the Premier League, which shows that he is not highly trusted by Arsene Wenger. West Ham strikers have struggled for goals this campaign. Michail Antonio is the club’s top scorer with nine goals, and he has not always played as a forward, with Bilic often using him in midfield or even at right back. With Andy Carroll always struggling with fitness (his future has come under speculation), Bilic is keen to sign a top quality forward this summer. Perez enjoyed a great spell during his time at Deportivo where he scored 24 La Liga goals in 58 games for the club.

Bilic is reportedly an admirer of Perez’s qualities and the club feel that he may be available for hire. Alexis Sanchez could leave Arsenal in the summer, and should that happen, the Gunners would be looking to reshape their own strike force. Perez may not feature in Wenger’s long term plans. Arsenal reportedly rejected an offer of £26m for Perez from a Chinese Super League club in January. West Ham will have to pay more than that to secure his signature.