Deportivo La Coruna Coach Victor Sanchez can’t say if the club will be able to keep Lucas Perez. ‘The decision rests with the player…’
Lucas tops the club’s scoring charts this season but with Depor still in debt, he may have to be sold to keep the club’s creditors happy, and the trainer was asked about his future in an interview with AS.
“I don’t know [if it’s possible to retain Lucas]. He’s very important to us, an emblematic player who is fully invested in the club and the city,” Victor noted.
“But we also have to understand we’re in a market where there are powerful clubs and less powerful. In the end, the final decision rests with the player.
“If he goes, the positive is it would help the debt, and that’s a priority for the club. It’s difficult for the project to grow with the economic burden.
“We’re also trying to revalue the squad, which had a value at the beginning of the season and another at the end by keeping us in the Primera.”
Victor was crucial in keeping Pedro Mosquera at Riazor during the January transfer window, even as Valencia met his release clause, and revealed how he convinced the midfielder to stay.
“I told him the same thing happened to me at Real Madrid. I had different offers, tasty economically, but I valued the sporting project and went to Racing Santander,” he recalled.
“The staff is here to give advice. We’re happy he stayed, and sure he can have a great career here.”
Even the form of Lucas and Mosquera hasn’t been enough to give Deportivo a victory in recent games, as Victor’s side struggles through a club-record run of draws.
“It’s relative. We’re on a long winless streak, but also without losing. Analysis is the way, if we are closer to winning or losing,” Victor counselled.
“And it is clear: We’ve mostly been closer to winning. We need to be wiser in defence and more effective in attack. We’re calm. It’d be worrying if there were doubts.
“The more chances you have, the more chances you have to win. But football has its own innate knowledge that doesn’t respect logic.”
