Perez was born in
A Coruna
,
Galicia
. After appearing for three clubs as a youth he moved to
Madrid
and joined
Atletico Madrid
's
C team
, playing two seasons in the
Tercera Division
. 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
, Perez contributed five games and one goal (in a 3?0 home win against
Real Valladolid
on 6 November 2010)
[4]
as Rayo returned to
La Liga
after eight years. He continued to be mainly registered with the B side, however.
On 17 January 2011,
free agent
Perez joined
Karpaty Lviv
on a three-year deal.
[5]
He scored his first goal for the team on 17 July, against
Chornomorets Odesa
in a 1?1
Ukrainian Premier League
draw.
Perez netted a
hat-trick
on 4 November 2012 in a 4?0 home victory over
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih
, including a long-distance volley from a
corner kick
delivery.
[6]
In January 2013, he joined fellow top-division club
Dynamo Kyiv
on loan for the remainder of
the campaign
, and later labelled his experience as "a nightmare".
[7]
PAOK and Deportivo La Coruna
edit
On 5 July 2013, Perez signed on a fee of
€
700,000 a three-year contract with
Super League Greece
team
PAOK
.
[8]
He scored his first competitive goal on 17 August, contributing to a 3?0 home defeat of
Skoda Xanthi
, and on 24 November he equalised in a 3?1 win over
Aris
in the
Derby of Northern Greece
.
[9]
He also helped to a
runner-up run
in the
national cup
, losing the decisive match to
Panathinaikos
.
[10]
On 18 July 2014, Perez returned to Spain and joined his
newly promoted
hometown side
Deportivo de La Coruna
in a one-year loan deal, with a buyout clause.
[11]
He scored in his first official appearance, having started in a 3?0 home victory against
Valencia
on 19 October which also marked his top-flight debut.
[12]
The following matchday, he was replaced in the 15th minute of a 0?0 draw at
Espanyol
due to a knee injury.
[13]
[14]
Perez only returned to action in January 2015,
[15]
appearing 12 minutes in a 0?4 home loss to
Barcelona
.
[16]
On 23 May, against the same opponent at the
Camp Nou
, he helped
Depor
come from behind by scoring in the 67th minute of a 2?2 draw in the last round that
prevented relegation
.
[17]
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
, Perez scored the opener after
Robert Mak
's shot was saved, in an eventual 6?0 home rout.
[18]
One week later, against
Spartak Trnava
in the same competition, he netted the game's only goal in the first leg.
[19]
On 12 August 2015, Perez signed a permanent four-year deal with Deportivo.
[20]
On 12 December, he took his
season
tally to 11 goals in only 15 games, helping to a 2?2 draw with Barcelona.
[21]
Perez totalled a career-best 17 goals at the end of the campaign, eventually helping his side to escape relegation again.
[22]
On 27 August 2016,
Arsene Wenger
said that Perez had completed a medical examination in order to join
Arsenal
after the paperwork was done.
[23]
[24]
Three days later, the transfer was confirmed by the club for a reported fee of £17.1?million.
[25]
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 team's equaliser.
[26]
On 20 September 2016, during an
EFL Cup
away match against
Nottingham Forest
, Perez scored his first goals for the Gunners, grabbing a brace in an eventual 4?0 victory in the
third round
.
[27]
On 6 December, he contributed three goals in 39 minutes to a 4?1 away defeat of
Basel
in the
UEFA Champions League
's
group stage
, helping them win the group.
[28]
On 3 January 2017, Perez netted for the first time in the domestic league, helping his team come back from 3?0 down to draw 3?3 at
Bournemouth
.
[29]
Towards the end of the month, he provided an assist to
Danny Welbeck
's first-ever brace for Arsenal, in a
5?0 away win
against
Southampton
in the
FA Cup
.
[30]
On 31 August 2017, Perez rejoined Deportivo on a
season
-long loan deal.
[31]
On 9 August 2018, Perez signed a three-year contract with
West Ham United
for a reported fee of £4 million.
[32]
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.
[33]
He scored his first goal for them on 26 September, in their 8?0 demolition of
Macclesfield Town
in the
EFL Cup
.
[34]
On 4 December 2018, Perez scored his first league goals for 700 days: coming on for
Marko Arnautovi?
, 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.
[35]
In May 2019, West Ham accepted an offer from
Alaves
for Perez for a fee of €2.5m subject to a medical.
[36]
He officially signed for the club on 3 June,
[37]
making his league debut on 18 August by playing the last minutes of the 1?0 home victory over
Levante
.
[38]
He scored his first goal on 29 September, the first in a 2?0 win against
Mallorca
also at the
Mendizorrotza Stadium
.
[39]
On 29 October 2019, Perez equalised in a 1?1 home draw with Atletico Madrid, becoming the first Alaves player to score in five consecutive La Liga games since 1955.
[40]
He repeated the feat the following match (at
Osasuna
, 4?2 loss), and in the process became their first player to achieve that in six consecutive fixtures.
[41]
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.
[42]
Perez terminated his contract on 18 August 2021.
[43]
On 31 August 2021,
free agent
Perez signed a one-year deal with
Elche
, still in the top tier.
[44]
The following 31 January, he moved to
Cadiz
of the same league on a 18-month contract.
[45]
Fourth spell at Deportivo
edit
Perez agreed to a return to Deportivo on 31 December 2022, with the deal being made effective at the opening of the January
transfer window
;
[46]
the player himself paid €493,000 in order to be released.
[47]
[48]
He scored a brace on his
Primera Federacion
debut eight days later, in a 3?0 win over
Salamanca
.
[49]
On 12 May 2024, Perez scored from a
direct free kick
in the 1?0 victory against second-placed
Barcelona B
, securing the club's
return
to
Segunda Division
after four years.
[50]
In the
play-off final
, he added three goals over two legs in a 6?3 aggregate win over
Castellon
to claim the title.
[51]