‘The truth is…..’ :Ayoze Perez reveals reason he swapped Newcastle United for ‘beautiful years’ at Leicester City

Ayoze Perez left Leicester City on loan six months before the Foxes’ relegation in 2023, securing a return to his homeland with Real Betis.

   That move became permanent that summer as Leicester City prepared for Championship life and Ayoze Perez enjoyed a prolific spell in Spain.

   After scoring 15 goals and providing four assists in 59 games for Real Betis, Perez was back in action this summer when he signed for Villarreal.

   He has started the season on fire for his new club, scoring six goals in seven games, and he spoke about his career in a recent interview.

   Ayoze Perez on £30m Leicester City transfer

   Perez first came to England in 2014 when he signed for Newcastle United from CD Tenerife as a 21-year-old.

   After impressing during his four seasons at the club, Leicester secured a £30m deal for the forward, who would then spend three years at the King Power before returning to Spain permanently.

   Perez spoke about his career in an interview with El Periodico Mediterraneo, where he was asked why he decided to swap Newcastle for Leicester.

   Perez replied: “The truth is that after five years at Newcastle I needed a change, both sportingly and mentally, and I signed for Leicester in 2019, a year after they won the Premier League.

   “Brendan Rodgers invested in me and those were very good years when we won two titles, the FA Cup and the Community Shield and went back to Europe and got Leicester back to the top of as competitive football as English football.”

   Perez’s Leicester City career in numbers

   Perez will be best remembered by Leicester fans for his hat-trick in a record 9-0 win away to Southampton in October 2019, but it’s fair to say he never quite lived up to his £30m price tag.

   The winger scored eight goals and provided five assists in his first season at the club, but managed just 15 goals and 12 assists in a total of 115 games.

   Indeed, in both his second and third seasons Perez managed just two Premier League goals and his five from Newcastle could be considered a failed move.