Newcastle United's Ayoze Perez Snubbed Barcelona and Real Madrid to Join Premier League

Newcastle United striker Ayoze Perez has told IBTimes UK he rejected offers from both Real Madrid and Barcelona in the summer to move to the Premier League.

The Under-21 international striker proved to be a sensation in the Spanish second division last season, scoring 16 goals in 34 appearances for Tenerife.

Reports in Spain during the summer claimed both La Liga giants, as well as Porto, were attracted by his impressive campaign and tried to secure his services as a transfer for the future, offering him to play firstly in their second team before making the move to the first team.

However, Alan Pardew's side managed to beat other suitors for his signature after agreeing to meet his £2m release clause.

Perez has since made a number of impressive cameos as a late sub for Newcastle, while on Sunday 26 October took his full debut at Tottenham to lead his side to a 2-1 victory, scoring the winner and his first Premier League goal.

When questioned after the game whether it was true Barcelona, Real Madrid and Porto approached him in the summer, he said: "Yes, there was interested from those teams.

"The truth is that the Newcastle bid was quite surprising because firstly there were other teams interested.

Asked why then he opted instead to move to St James Park, he said: "Because they pushed very hard to get me. I feel they really valued me," he said to IBTimes UK.

"We had to consider the different options and I finally decided to come to Newcastle.

"I have always loved the Premier League but the main reason to come here was how Newcastle valued myself. I felt very appreciated by the club and that [was the reason] which made me opt to come here."

After the game, the manager lavished praise on Perez, claiming "he is a really great individual talent".

"He hasn't quite got the strength and power that you associate with the Premier League but that will come to him. He has worked really, really hard," Pardew said.

"He goes to Spain tonight to an awards ceremony and hopefully he might pick up an award or two there. We are so pleased with him today. The players love him so they were really made up that he scored the winner."