Former Tenerife striker Perez was one of the few positive developments of a depressing campaign, hitting seven goals in 35 starts and confirming himself as a player to watch after a cut-price summer move from the Spanish second tier.
Perez’s form did not go unnoticed in the rest of the top flight. Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson praised him after the two clubs met at Christmas, and ex-United chief Alan Pardew said that he had more natural ability than Teddy Sheringham.
Manchester City and Tottenham are also understood to have compiled scouting dossiers on Perez but the forward, who was capped by Spain’s under-21 side last season, has said that he is “very happy” to continue plying his trade on Tyneside.
“Newcastle has changed my life,” Perez said.
“It was a hard decision to leave Tenerife but it is a decision I do not regret having taken – it was the right one. I’m very happy at Newcastle and I feel over-valued here. I don’t want to leave. The first 10 weeks were very hard, I had to work hard to get up to speed but I knew that an opportunity to start a game would come with the passage of time.”
Perez could have joined Roma, Real Madrid and Porto but opted for Newcastle – a decision that Albert Luque warned him at the time was fraught with risk. But he persevered and made a huge success of his move.
Only ONE man will decide if Perez stays or goes ... Mike Ashley!