Newcastle United forward Ayoze Perez has claimed he was once close to joining Tottenham Hotspur.
Newcastle United forward Ayoze Perez has been quoted by the Shields Gazette as saying that he was close to leaving for Tottenham Hotspur in recent memory.
The Magpies have been in blistering form of late, and head into Monday’s game against Everton having won each of their last four Premier League games.
Home wins over Southampton and Huddersfield Town were followed up with an away win at Leicester City, before returning to St. James’ Park to see off Arsenal last weekend as Newcastle have risen into the top half of the Premier League table.
One of the keys in that run of form has been Ayoze Perez, as the Spanish forward has now scored three goals in his last three games, including the winner over Huddersfield and the equaliser against Arsenal.
Perez, 24, hasn’t always impressed this season, but he has come up strong in recent weeks to drag Newcastle away from the bottom three, earning plaudits in the process.
A 2014 signing from Tenerife, Perez has had his moment in England but has largely struggled for consistency, though he did attract interest from rival English clubs in 2015 and 2016.
Perez has now been quoted by the Shields Gazette as saying that he did have interest from Manchester United, and was once ‘pretty close’ to signing for Tottenham Hotspur, but the move didn’t go through – and he isn’t unhappy about that.
“In the end it (a move to Tottenham) did not happen,” said Perez. “It was a couple of seasons ago. Man United was more interest than anything else, but the Tottenham was pretty close. In the end, it did not come to anything, but staying here was not negative. I enjoyed a lot in the second division. It made me improve in many ways, and I was happy,” he added.
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