According to a recent report by CalcioNapoli24 (translated by Sports Witness), Tottenham Hotspur are a step away from securing the services of Newcastle United striker Ayoze Perez during the summer transfer window. The same source has also revealed that Spurs will face stiff competition from Inter Milan and Napoli in pursuit of the Premier League forward at the end of this campaign.
Perez’s Incredible Rise To Prominence
The Spanish talent worked his way up the youth ranks of Tenerife before breaking out as a first-team starter for them back in 2012. The Magpies decided to bring him to Tyneside in the summer of 2014, and since then, he has scored a plethora of important goals at St. James’ Park so far.
Perez is currently playing the best football of his career and has enjoyed a stellar season with Newcastle in the recently concluded Premier League campaign. He has put in a series of goal-scoring performances under Rafael Benitez’s tutelage which has firmly established his name as one of the favourites among the Toon Army. The Spanish frontman has featured in 41 matches for the Magpies this term, registering 13 goals while providing four assists across multiple competitions.
However, the jury is still out on whether he has shown enough consistency in terms of finding the back of the net to justify a move to a big club like Tottenham this summer.
What Will The Ex-Tenerife Prospect Add To Pochettino’s Side?
Perez has decent pace in his locker, which helps him make intelligent runs behind the opposition backline. When firing on all cylinders going forward, the Spaniard has proven in the past that he can be a match-winner on the pitch. However, at the same time, he also tends to fade in and out of games. That could be one of the main reasons why Benitez has frequently taken him out of games before the full 90 minutes.
Pochettino needs to recruit players who he can rely upon during the high-profile matches which have often been Spurs’ Achilles heel in recent years. The North London outfit already have a world-class forward in Harry Kane. Thus, one can argue that Perez might only be brought in to play as a back-up to the English forward.
If that’s the case, then it makes a lot of sense for Pochettino to recruit a player like Perez who can be quite unpredictable in the opposition half. He will be an ideal impact substitute and will hopefully not complain about playing a reserved role at the new White Hart Lane.
