Newcastle United selling Ayoze Perez to Leicester City in 2019 raised a lot of eyebrows given his worth to the club, but the decision to accept £30m looks a masterstroke now. The 28-year-old has endured the most monumental of career spirals in the Midlands and may not be at Leicester beyond 2022.
Perez is out of favour under Brendan Rodgers, has been linked with an exit from the King Power Stadium and is reportedly open to a Newcastle return. So what happened?
The 28-year-old has made 95 appearances across the board for Leicester, scoring 12 goals with 11 assists. Perez’s debut season saw him score eight goals with four assists in 33 league games and he somehow got worse from there.
He scored just two goals in 25 league games last season and has yet to find the back of the net in the top-flight this campaign, so Perez has just two league goals to his name since July 2020. The Spaniard is Leicester’s third-most expensive signing but hasn’t lived up to his billing.
Perez has spent most of the season as an unused substitute, so he’ll surely seek first-team football elsewhere this summer. Whether Newcastle return for him remains to be seen, however.
In other news, Noel Whelan says Chris Wood could lose his place next season
