Newcastle United’s hopes of tying Ayoze Perez down to a new contract at St James’ Park have taken a massive hit with the exit of Rafael Benitez, according to the Independent.
The newspaper claim on their website that the Spanish star, who was one of the Magpies’ top performers during the 2018/19 campaign, acting as a mainstay in the starting XI, is a player that the club’s top brass were hoping to get on a new and improved deal following his impressive performances.
However, with Benitez confirmed to be leaving, the report states that Perez will rebuff any contract offers and look to follow his countryman out the exit door on Tyneside, with a move back home to Spain his preferred move.
Opinion
And so the exodus begins. Perez always seemed like a player whose future was determined by whether Benitez stayed this summer and so the Newcastle chiefs should not be surprised that the attacker is looking to depart. They should have tried to get him tied down to a contract before allowing the manager to leave but then again Perez might well have been reluctant to pen anything before Benitez’s future was decided. Newcastle might be able to cash in for a hefty amount of profit on the Spanish star, having signed him for just €3million from Tenerife, but money is worth absolutely nothing if it is just sitting in the safe at St James’ Park. Whatever money is earned from his exit needs to be reinvested into the first team, for they are set to lose a player who was a big influence last season. Do the Toon Army trust Mike Ashley to do just that? Not at all, which is why it is such a worrying time to be a Newcastle fan. Who knows which players will remain when the Premier League returns.
