Newcastle make early move for Racing Santander’s Ayoze Mark II
Published:
After Ayoze Perez’s moderate success in his first season at Newcastle, the Geordies are hotly tipped to target Spain’s lower leagues once more this summer, with Racing Santander’s David Concha firmly on their radar.
Ayoze was one of the few bright spots during a dismal campaign on Tyneside, notching seven times in the Premier League, including five over an 11-match spell between October and December, having joined from Segunda Division side Tenerife for €2m 12 months ago.
The 21-year-old’s productivity tailed off after Alan Pardew’s January departure from St James’ Park, but Ayoze continued to bag the odd important goal under woeful caretaker boss John Carver, including the equaliser against West Brom earlier this month, which halted a run of eight losses in a row.
According to local tabloid the Evening Chronicle, Newcastle have moved quickly in the race for Concha, as they did for Ayoze last summer, by showing him round the one genuine asset Mike Ashley hasn’t sold off yet – their 52,000-plus capacity headquarters.
Real Betis, who will be back in the Spanish top flight next term after winning the Segunda Liga, are thought to be keen on the 18-year-old, while Champions League-bound Valencia have also been mentioned as possible suitors for the Santander local boy.
The parallels between Concha and Ayoze are obvious, but the former is more than two years younger now than the latter was when he left Tenerife, and plays in a league lower (Segunda B) than the Canary Islands outfit.
With that in mind, he may represent more of a risk at the rumoured price of £2m, which works out at around €2.8m.
Ayoze scored 16 times in 34 Segunda Liga fixtures during his final season in Spain, while Concha managed just five in 33 this term in the division below. That being said, he was deployed in a wider role than the Newcastle man.
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