Leicester City could have negotiated a lower price for Newcastle United attacker Ayoze Perez, according to Sky Sports journalist Rob Dorsett.
It is understood that Leicester are set to pay £30million on landing the 25-year-old this summer and a deal is almost complete with the Spaniard undergoing a medical with the East Midlands club.
However Newcastle are set to pocket a sizeable fee for Perez due to how desperate Brendan Rodgers wants to sign the attacking midfielder.
“Personal terms have been agreed, his medical began in Leicester this morning and we’re told that’s all but done,” said Dorsett on Sky Sports News on Wednesday night [07:34pm].
“Lots of Leicester fans though are questioning the size of the fee of £30million.
“My understanding is that Leicester could have haggled for a reduced price, but they wanted to move quickly on this one.
“He’s a player that Brendan Rodgers sees as a key target.”
Dorsett added: “With other possible targets more than double the price – we’ve been talking all evening about Wilfried Zaha at Crystal Palace – Leicester feel that Perez is good value for money.”
OPINION
Leicester could be paying £3million, £30million or £300million for Perez, either way, Newcastle’s next manager is unlikely to be able to reinvest that money into the squad due to the way that Mike Ashley restricts spending on Tyneside. Last summer saw the Magpies cash in on Aleksandar Mitrovic for £22million, only for them to not spend that money until January when the club surprisingly signed Miguel Almiron for a record fee. Newcastle regularly make profits in transfer windows, but the squad just isn’t getting any better and does appear to be getting worse this summer. Perez is about to go, Salomon Rondon looks unlikely to return and there are other players with questions marks over their futures like Isaac Hayden and Jonjo Shelvey. Rafa Benitez’s exit is the worst though and it won’t be long before Newcastle fans really ramp up their protests against Ashley’s ownership of the Tyneside club.
