Ayoze Perez discusses being booed by Newcastle fans in 2020

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Ayoze Perez has reflected on his time at Newcastle United.

Ayoze Perez spent five season at Newcastle United, between 2014 and 2019, making 195 appearances and scoring 48 goals for the club.

He left St James’ Park in the summer of 2019, join Leicester City in a deal worth £30 million.

Now, the 30-year-old forward is back in Spain, and plies his trade for La Liga outfit Real Betis. However, he still has fond memories of his time on Tyneside.

However, upon returning to St James’ Park as a Leicester City player in 2020, Perez found that he was greeted by boos from the Newcastle fans.

The Spaniard has now spoken publicly about how his reception from the Magpies supporters made him feel. As quoted by Chronicle Live, Perez said, “I spent a very good five years at Newcastle so it was a weird feeling…I know how it works [with the boos]. It was part of the show. It’s normal. When you play for a different team, you are now a rival. It made me laugh a little bit. There were no hard feelings.”

Perez delivered healthy Newcastle profit

It is, of course, commonplace for fans to boo former players when they turn out for opposition teams. It is heartening that Perez wasn’t hurt or insulted by the experience. Newcastle still holds a fond place in Perez’s heart, and he hopes that if he were to return to Tyneside now he would be greeted more warmly.

The attacker played a key role for the club at a difficult time, and was a regular starter for Newcastle when they achieved promotion back to the Premier League as Championship title winners in 2017. His sale also earned the club a healthy, and at the time much-needed profit, as the Magpies had only paid around £1.5 million to bring Perez to the club from Tenerife in 2014.

Eddie Howe has since led the club to greater heights than they were at in Perez’s time, but his contribution to the cause should not be forgotten. He was able to score some important goals, and produced some excellent performances, during his spell as a Newcastle player.