AC Milan and AS Roma are both interested in Lucas Perez, as Unai Emery opts to move forward with other players, according to reports in Spain.

Fichajes write that Perez is set to be ‘one of the first casualties’ of Emery’s time in charge of the club. They say that the forward ‘doesn’t seem to enter Unai Emery’s plans’. As a result, the 29-year-old is drawing interest from elsewhere, including the two aforementioned Serie A sides.

We heard last week that Lazio are another club trying to sign Perez this summer, so clearly something about him is drawing the attention of the Italian sides.

I wouldn’t read too much into stories about Emery’s plans at this stage though. The head coach is currently on a short holiday, and reports suggest he hasn’t met many of the players just yet. That will all come as the summer progresses, but before then he’d be irresponsible to let anyone go.

Until he has a chance to at least see Perez in training, I’m not sure why he’d write him off. This season the former Deportivo La Coruna man spent the season back on loan at his old club, and scored nine goals whilst assisting eight despite their relegation. He also created more chances than anyone in the league except Lionel Messi.

This is the prime of the Spaniard’s career, so I’d expect him to get a chance to prove his worth.