That was the rumour. In fact Alan Pardew even said it was true.
But not today. Apparently Portugal club Porto wanted him, but no mention of the Spanish giants.
MOTD2 said it was rubbish ... but who knows?
Pardew started with Perez because Papiss Cisse is struggling with a knee injury, but what a stroke of good luck.
His backheel flick put United ahead against WBA and everyone is hailing Newcastle's new scoring sensation.
Alan Pardew (talking to the BBC): "He (Perez) was courted by some big clubs, in particular Porto, and Porto don't sign anyone unless they are a good player.
"That underlined what we have seen and he has been a great buy for us.
"He genuinely loved the way we were so determined to bring him and 54,000 Geordies every week, the third biggest supported club in the country is a big magnet.
"He was highly regarded. We worked hard to bring him to the club.
"We thought his physicality could be an issue but he has such technical quality you hope it will see you through and it has.
"That goal was worthy of winning any game. It is difficult to play him on his own but he really worked hard."