Former England international Danny Mills has poured scorn on Newcastle United attacker Ayoze Perez’s recent up-turn in form.
The Spaniard has scored the Magpies’ last five goals and has hit the back of the net eight times since club record signing Miguel Almiron arrived on transfer deadline day in January.
Mills however, is not impressed. “He’s done it for just the one season,” he told Football Insider. “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?”
OPINION
This is surprisingly scathing from Mills. Yes, we haven’t seen Perez produce such consistently excellent form for Newcastle before, but it’s not as if he’s been terrible for them in the past. He is a proven Premier League performer who can obviously make an impact at this level. Yes, he’s only now putting everything together, but we forget how young he is. He’s been with the Magpies for so long that people don’t realise he’s still only 25 years of age. Sometimes players don’t start kicking into top gear until they get to around 25/26. So for Mills to hammer Perez for his previous form is a bit harsh. As for the Murray comparison, that’s just farcical. You can’t compare players purely on the number of goals they score. Perez brings so much more to the table than Murray does and is just a better overall footballer. Plus, he’s a decade younger. So, yes Danny, please tell us who you’d rather buy out of Perez and Murray.
