Despite 11 goals this season and some stunning form in 2019, Danny Mills is still yet to be convinced by Ayoze Perez – saying he needs to do this over ‘two or three seasons’ to earn a ‘big move’.
Consistency has been an issue for Perez – with Rafa even admitting recently that this is what’s stopped him from playing for a top club – however it’s easy to forget he’s got into double figures across the last THREE seasons (12,10,12).
Here’s what the former full-back and current pundit has had to say when speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the Spaniard:
“He’s done it for just the one season,”
“To get a big move you need to do it over two or three seasons. He hasn’t been great in the past, he’s been in and out.
“Okay, it’s gone well for him this year. I think if you buy a player off the back of one season, does it show that they are good enough? I’m not convinced.
“He’s done better – 11 goals for a forward, I think Glenn Murray’s got 11 goals this season – would you buy Glenn Murray ahead of Ayoze Perez?”
“He plays in that forward line, Glenn Murray hasn’t played a lot of football but he’s scored more goals – and he’s 35.
“Is 11 goals outstanding for a forward player? Not massively.
“He’s done better than before and he’s done okay but I don’t think he’ll get a big move off the back of that.”
I’m split on this. I think he’s ignorant to the good work (and decent numbers!) Ayoze has produced over the past THREE seasons now, however I do agree that consistency has been an issue for Perez.
When you see how well he’s played since the turn of the year, it makes you wonder why he’s been hiding this sort of form, with him being one of the biggest sources of frustration in attack at times during the first half of the season.
That said, he works hard, he follows instructions and fits into Benitez’s system and regularly scores important goals at the business end of the season.
I know who offers more between Ayoze Perez and Glen Murray – with the former doing much more than just score goals when he’s ‘on it’.
