Ayoze Perez talks to Spanish media about his days at Newcastle United – Unique experience | OneFootball

Ayoze Perez signed for Newcastle United for £1.8m back in summer 2014.

Arriving from the Spanish second tier, fair to say he was very much an unknown quantity.

Five years later he was sold for £30m.

Ayoze Perez swiftly following Rafa Benitez out of St James’ Park.

The attacking player moving to Leicester City.

The Spaniard then moved back to Spain to join Real Betis, first on loan and then a free transfer permanent deal.

Before finally Ayoze Perez joining Villarreal this past summer in a £3m deal.

The now 31 year old scoring six La Liga goals so far this season in just four starts and three sub appearances.

Ayoze Perez has now been talking about his career, especially the five years at Newcastle United, to El Periódico Mediterráneo, translated quotes via Sport Witness – 14 October 2024:

The newspaper says the attacker is an ‘idol’ in England and this is when Pérez talked about his experience with Newcastle.

(He scored 48 goals and registered 17 assists from 195 games for the Tyneside club. El Periódico Mediterráne points that out and says his statistics with Newcastle were ‘amazing’.)

“I’m turning red! [Laughs].

“I spent five wonderful years at Newcastle, at least four of them, three and a half of which were with Rafa Bentítez, with whom we promoted to the Premier League, and I learned a lot from him.

“I started as a 9 at Newcastle, but very soon they moved me to the winger position, and it is true that I performed well, and I was very satisfied with my performance in such an important club. Playing in England and in the Premier League is a unique experience for a footballer.

“The truth is that after five years at Newcastle I needed a change, both athletically and mentally. And I signed for Leicester in 2019, years after they won the Premier League.

“Brendan Rodgers bet on me and they were very nice years in which we won two titles, the FA Cup and the Community Shield, and we returned to Europe, returning Leicester to the highest level of football as competitive as English.”

The greatest miracle achieved by Rafa Benitez, amongst many at Newcastle United, was surely when he created the £30m Ayoze Perez.

Perez had been a canny player for Newcastle United after arriving in summer 2014, he scored seven PL goals in his debut season and then six goals in the Premier League 2015/16 relegation season. Then under Rafa Benitez it was nine goals in the 2016/17 Championship season and eight in the 2017/18 Premier League, as Joselu and Dwight Gayle played unselfish roles.

Though even when we reached 2019 and what would prove the final months of Rafa’s stay at NUFC, Ayoze Perez was still only a £10m-£15m rated player at the very most.

However, on 4 July 2019, only days after Mike Ashley finally forced Rafa Benitez out of the club, Newcastle United received £30m (£THIRTYm) for Ayoze Perez.

Miguel Almiron had arrived on 31 January 2019, the first player Rafa Benitez had been allowed to sign for over £10m in the four transfer windows after getting promotion as champions back to the Premier League.

The Paraguayan’s signing helped connect a lot of dots and Newcastle were suddenly transformed into a far more effective attacking unit.

The final 13 PL games saw Newcastle score 21 goals, the same number they had scored in the opening 25 matches.

Almiron and Rondon were outstanding and helped create the platform for Ayoze Perez to score nine goals in his final 12 Premier League games with Newcastle United, making it 12 goals in all in that 2018/19 Premier League season for Perez. The Spaniard had never ever managed double figures in the league at any level of football AND hasn’t done since then.

Rafa Benitez somehow turning Ayoze Perez into a commodity that Leicester City were willing to pay £30m for, quite incredible.

Ayoze Perez speaking to The Athletic after moving to Leicester City – 5 August 2019:

“Rafa was key. He was a big factor when he stayed at the club. I knew we were going to be great playing under Rafa, and we were. We made it back as champions. The next two seasons after that were great as well.

“The ambition of the club (Leicester) and the way they are doing the right things was very important in my decision. Also, as soon as Rafa left the decision was easier.

“Things could be done better over there at Newcastle, but Leicester have given me the opportunity to do great things hopefully. There is big ambition. I think how football works, the way you have to look at football, that is the difference between Leicester and Newcastle. There is big motivation here to keep growing and to get better here at Leicester. I didn’t feel they had it at Newcastle.”

If I’m honest, whether Rafa Benitez left or not, £30m was incredible to bank for Ayoze Perez. All thanks to Rafa of course that Ashley hoovered up some £20m more than Perez was really worth. Benitez making him look a far better player with those final goalscoring months, than he was in reality.

That shown by his move to Leicester, for £30m and a four year contract on significant wages, the Foxes in return got 50 Premier League starts and 12 PL goals.

Leicester City never received a penny back on that £30m Rafa Benitez inspired transfer fee that they paid Newcastle United and indeed, when you look at the financial issues that the Foxes have now ran into, those massive overspends in transfer fees for the likes of Ayoze Perez (£30m), Islam Slimani (£30m), Kelechi Iheanacho (£25m) and Patson Daka (£27m), as well as others, have been a massive factor.