In what can only be described as a disjointed and disastrous season for Newcastle United, there is surprisingly a bright spark that has emerged at St James Park, much to the delight of Newcastle’s staff, players and fans alike. Ayoze Perez, the Spaniard signed from CD Tenerife in the summer for what seems a bargain fee of around £1.6m, has lit up many of United’s dismal performances with his trickery, youthful optimism and most importantly, some vital goals.
Newcastle’s second-top goalscorer this term in his debut season, Ayoze has bagged seven Premier League goals and been an impressive mainstay in the starting eleven for the majority of the 2014-15 season. His talent has been crucial: without his seven goals, Newcastle would be eight points worse off, which would have seen them relegated.
Ayoze Perez: Newcastle’s Shining Light
Perez hasn’t just been Newcastle’s shining light in terms of his goalscoring form, proven by a barren spell without finding the net which stretched fourteen matches, but also with regards to his work rate and attitude towards pulling on the shirt. Originally signed as a back-up player by former manager Alan Pardew, who would feature mostly in reserve games, ‘Ayo’, as he is affectionately known, has really stepped up to the plate and shown a hunger and desire, relishing the challenge of the Premier League.
Upon his arrival on Tyneside, Ayoze’s only professional footballing experience was in the Spanish Segunda Division, where the gulf in class to the Premier League is understandably very extensive. The Spanish Under-21 international’s 50 appearances for Tenerife yielded 17 goals, a healthy return for a wide player. After winning several personal accolades in his second year in Tenerife’s first team, there was talk of a move to a bigger league, and Newcastle came calling, meeting his €2mn release clause fee.
A novice to top division football, Ayoze was anticipated to be fourth-choice striker at Newcastle this season, but has adapted excellently to lead the line on a number of occasions, establishing himself as a first-team regular. His growth has to be commended, shining brightly in a squad brimming with full internationals, whose fitness levels will undoubtedly have been higher than the 21-year old had ever encountered before, and competing at the top level, scoring against the likes of Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool.
Ayoze’s preferred position isn’t as the lone striker, an area in which he has been deployed many times this year, but as a wider player, allowing him to contribute to more phases of play, running through on goal instead of being fed with long balls from the back. However, he has performed consistently in this position, even when the goals the weren’t flowing, showing how much of a well-rounded model professional he has been on the pitch.
Following the injuries to Siem de Jong and Papiss Cisse and the awful form of Emmanuel Riviere, who is yet to register his first Premier League goal, Ayoze has taken up the goalscoring mantle himself, showing maturity beyond his years in a black and white shirt. Ayoze’s audacity and quality of his seven league goals have also been a revelation to the United faithful, with finishes such as a cheeky back-heel against West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns being the pick of the bunch. His overall play off the ball has also been encouraging, which has led many Newcastle enthusiasts to believe that they have acquired a rare gem of a player in Ayoze Perez.
At times, during his barren run in front of goal, Perez had to display maturity and avoid showing signs of petulance and frustration, which he did admirably, showing his class and development into a well-established Premier League player.
Ayoze has truly grown from a naive young Spanish second division player into a developed, hard-working, enthusiastic professional, and has arguably been Newcastle’s best player this season, and most definitely their breakthrough talent, a true shining light of the future.
