The time has come for Newcastle United to replace Ayoze Perez
Newcastle United need creativity and their current man to provide that has been Ayoze Perez. But the Spaniard has struggled to make an impact since the Magpies made the shift to the Premier League a few seasons ago. The Premier League’s pace and physicality aren’t for everyone and it is tough to adjust and improve themselves as time passes, and Perez has fallen short on more than one occasion.
While he does play behind the main striker, the 25-year-old is considered Newcastle’s playmaker and second striker, but this season has seen him struggle. Last season, with the Magpies being promoted up the order, Perez managed to find his footing and finished the season with 8 goals and 4 assists. But so far, the 25-year-old has only managed 2 goals and an assist in 19 appearances for Rafael Benitez’s side.
Since Newcastle are struggling creatively, they need a new creative midfielder to play behind main man Salomon Rondon after January. This makes the winter window the perfect chance to replace Perez with someone more efficient and Premier league-experienced. Unfortunately, there are a few players in the world who can adapt to that list of demands.
Benitez should either scour the transfer market for a replacement or hope for Perez to find his shooting boots, which is something he struggled to do in the Championship as well despite scoring 9 goals and adding a further 7 assists. The main reason why the former Liverpool boss splurged for the Spaniard was his 16-goal return for CD Tenerife during the 2014/15 season. A 19-year-old Ayoze Perez stunned the La Liga, contributing towards 23 goals all season.
He has since failed to hit the same heights in both the Premier League and the Championship. With the Magpies fighting dangerously close to the drop, they need someone dependable to get them out of the mess. That someone isn’t Ayoze Perez and while the 25-year-old could suddenly turn up halfway through the season, Benitez needs to add another goal-scoring second-striker.
That may either be the answer to all of Newcastle’s problems or an answer to just a small one. If they find a way around it then maybe next season we will see them fighting for something more than mere survival.
