Ayoze Perez is set to undergo a medical with Leicester City soon, according to the Chronicle, and blamed the departure of Rafa Benitez and lack of ambition at Newcastle, as the motivation behind his move.
The fee is believed to be around £30 million, and it is a decent fee for the player who cost less than £2m when he arrived on Tyneside.
Although the Spaniard has always divided opinion among among supporters at St James’ Park, his reasons for leaving will resonate with fans.
The report claims that Perez hoped Newcastle would “move to the next level”, but he believed it was unlikely when Rafa was allowed to leave.
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The report in the Chronicle states: “ChronicleLive understands that Perez was hopeful Benitez would stay and that Newcastle would ‘like to aspire to great things’ and compete with Wolves, Leicester and Everton.
“After Benitez’s departure was confirmed, on June 24, there was a feeling within Perez’s camp that the club ‘will not change’”.
His comments are mirrored by many of the Geordie fan-base, and while rumours persisted since March that the Tenerife native felt it was time to move, it had been hoped he would stay if Rafa extended his contract.
There is zero positivity at Newcastle this summer
Despite the good fee, his comments will leave fans concerned.
If other players feel the same as Perez, there could be a few knocks on Lee Charnley’s office door when the players return for pre-season training on Thursday.
If there is a mass exodus from the club, there will be very little time to replace them all with Premier League quality players.
It is all adding to the intense pessimism surrounding the club at the moment.
These are worrying times for Toon fans.