Euro 2024 winner Ayoze Perez has spoken about his move from Newcastle United to Leicester City in 2019.

After returning from the competition with Spain’s Henri Delauney trophy in hand, Perez left Real Betis to join Villareal. The 31-year-old, whose contract with Leicester City expired last summer, returned to Spain permanently.

Perez had a dismal return to the King Power Stadium after spending £30 million to leave St James’ Park in the summer of 2019, managing just 15 goals in 114 appearances. The club was without a manager and one of their main players as preseason began due to Rafa Benitez’s departure, which culminated in a turbulent summer on Tyneside with Perez’s sale.

Speaking recently to El Periodico Mediterraneo, Perez disclosed that after five years at St. James’ Park, he “needed a change” and decided to join Leicester City at that time. “The reality is, I needed a change—both psychologically and physically—after spending five years at Newcastle. And in 2019, years after Leicester’s Premier League victory, I signed with them. stated Perez.

Even though Newcastle United received a good compensation for Perez’s departure, the fan base was upset that he was leaving to join a rival in the Premier League. The twenty-year-old Spaniard came to the club from Tenerife, and after injury problems forced him to play Perez before he’d had enough time to adjust to English football, he was catapulted into the first team under Alan Pardew.

Perez, though, had an immediate impact and rose to prominence for the Magpies, especially under Benitez’s leadership. “I spent five wonderful years at Newcastle, at least four of them, three and a half of which were with Rafa Benitez, with whom we promoted to the Premier League, and I learned a lot from him,” Perez remarked about his tenure at Newcastle United.