Injured Perez baffled by ‘Gravenbeast’ tackle

Arsenal striker Lucas Perez has revealed he was left baffled by the tackle which has ruled him out of action for two months.

The Gunners striker, who arrived from Deportivo La Coruna for £17million in the summer, had to limp  ut of last month’s EFL Cup clash with Reading after being injured by a Reading defender Danzell Gravenberch’s tackle.

Perez suffered an ankle injury and is hoping to return to action in mid-December, but he has criticised the tackle from a player, who has been  known by the nickname ‘Gravenbeast’.

“The injury is a shame, but we have to fight,” Perez said in Marca.

“I didn’t understand where the player was going with the tackle, but these are just occupational hazards.”

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was left unhappy by the challenge, who labelled it a “deliberate kick”.

“It’s very frustrating because he worked very hard to get there. Of course he is absolutely gutted, because it’s an injury coming from nowhere, and a stupid one, because it was a deliberate kick. It was not needed.” said Wenger last month

“I think it was a more frustrated reaction from the player. He had no chance to get the ball like that, but you have to deal with that. Sometimes you get away with it, sometimes you get a bad injury. In this case it’s unfortunate.”

“It’s a similar tackle to [Granit] Xhaka, but there was no red card. But the red card would not have helped Pérez. What is most important is that he’s out for six to eight weeks.”

Perez has managed only 97 minutes of Premier League football so far this season, including one start and two appearances from the bench.

His only goals for the Gunners came in the EFL Cup third-round win over Nottingham Forest, when he scored twice in the 4-0 win.