Ayoze Perez has admitted that he is ‘living the dream’ playing in the Premier League under Rafa Benitez, rubbishing claims that he is ready to return to Spain – insisting that he ‘wants to be at Newcastle going forward’.
With our transfer business stuttering and Benitez growing increasingly frustrated, it comes as a welcome boost to hear another of our star players commit himself to the club.
Just last week Lascelles rubbished talk that he could be leaving this summer after a £25m bid from West Ham, and now Perez has followed the skipper lead, reassuring fans that he will be a Newcastle United player ahead of the new season.
Here’s what he’s had to say to the Chronicle when asked about speculation linking him with a potential move back to Spain this summer:
“I want to be at Newcastle going forward, 100 per cent,”
“I am living my dream of playing in the Premier League, playing for a massive team, and so it’s good to be here and I love playing for this club.
“Obviously it is good to have interest from those Spanish teams, because it makes you feel like you are doing something great, and shows I must be doing something right.
“But honestly I’m happy in England, I’m happy playing in the Premier League. I’m living my dream, and still it is not time for me to go back to Spain.
“My summer was great back at home, I really enjoyed it – but now it’s about being back at work and focusing on pre-season.”
Great to hear and good news for Rafa Benitez – with the 24-year old clearly a player the gaffer is a big fan of, having started him as much as anyone during his two and half years at the club.
Perez ended last season as our top scorer with 10 goals in all competitions, playing a vital role in our climb up to tenth despite a slightly stuttering first half of the season.
Hopefully he can continue developing in that number 10 role and go from strength to strength in the upcoming campaign after such a strong end to the 2017/18 season.
I’m not so sure about using the words “Star” and “Perez” in the same sentence.
As for Benitez being a “fan” I suspect he considers him the lesser of 4 evils.
Let’s not forget that as Manager, Benitez has to manage his staff. While Perez may be the best we’ve got that doesn’t automatically make him a star, but you would have to be a pretty bad manager to say that to the press when you may have to depend on him to get you goals.
He will probably need a few goals from him this term but I suspect it’s stretching the truth a bit to say Benitez is a fan.
Brrrian(Quote)