My issue isn’t selling Perez to Leicester for £30m, it’s what Mike Ashley will do with the money..

I’ll be totally honest here. I think £30m for Perez is good business and have felt for months now that he was always going to leave – whether Rafa stays or not.

There’s been claims that the fee could be £16m, but both Sky Sports, the Chronicle and BBC Radio Newcastle are saying £30m, so let’s go with that.

My issue isn’t Perez leaving for £30m – it’s a great offer and he always looked likely to leave. My issue is the fact I have ZERO faith in Mike Ashley’s ability to reinvest the money received.

He was our top scorer last season and has been one of our star men over the past few years, however, at £30m, he’s very much replaceable IF you reinvest.

The big issue here is the fact I have a good idea what Mike will do with that money received – and it won’t be to tell any new manager to go and get better with £30m.

Will it go in his piggy bank as he prepares to buy the latest high-street store on the decline? Will he sign a bargain basement replacement and keep the rest for himself? Or will he ‘reinvest’ but only give any new manager £30m provided it covers both transfer fee, agent costs and wages of Perez’s replacement?

Had Rafa stayed (and been promised £20-£30m to replace Perez) or had new owners arrived with a competent manager by their side, I’d be feeling fairly optimistic about our chances of replacing Ayoze – a player who’s supremely talented on his day, but also someone who’s shown real inconsistency in terms of his final product, involvement in games and goal return.

I’m not saying he’s not a good player and £30m is outrageous fee to be paying for him, but I think the real underlying issue here is how he’ll be replaced.

Just look at what Mike Ashley has done in the past. He sold Andy Carroll for £35m and replaced him with Shefki Kuqi. Mikel Merino left – a highly rated Spanish international with a huge future ahead of him – and he was replaced with a relegated Ki Sung-Yeung who’s career has been on the decline.

The timing of it also stinks given we’re still trying to get over Rafa’s exit, the takeover silence and the fact Rondon is now as good as gone. It comes after several bits of devastating news with not one positive in between, but the real issue here for me is my total lack of faith in a quality replacement arriving – and the same applies to Rafa and Rondon.

And that’s a HUGE worry when you consider we’d have been left on 21 points last season if you took away Rondon and Perez’s goals, not forgetting the fact Benitez gave us so much solidarity and organisation at the back.

(Fancy writing for us? Send any articles/ideas over to us at [email protected] & we’ll get back to you!)

About Olly Hawkins

As a Junior Magpie since birth and season ticket holder, I eat, sleep and breathe all things NUFC! Here at the blog, I aim to bring you news, views, match reports and transfer exclusives as and when I get them.

227 thoughts on “My issue isn’t selling Perez to Leicester for £30m, it’s what Mike Ashley will do with the money..

  1. Ashley doesn’t care at all about the club or the fans. Somebody will have mentioned Bruce. MA will have asked if he’s cheap and that’s that.

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