Magpies Star Bizarrely Claims He Turned Down Barcelona And Real Madrid For The Toon

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El Clasico or Tyne-Wear Derby? There’s only one answer…

Newcastle striker Ayoze Perez has claimed that both Real Madrid and Barcelona were interested in signing him before he chose to move to Tyneside, reports the Guardian.

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The Spaniard has played twice for the nation’s Under-21s and bagged 16 goals in 34 appearances for Spanish second tier side Tenerife last season.

This apparently caught the eye of La Liga’s biggest clubs and it was only Newcastle’s desire to sign him that made him choose the North East of England. He made the move for a £1.5 million fee in the summer.

“Yes, there was interest from those clubs (Barcelona and Real Madrid). The truth is that the Newcastle bid was quite surprising because firstly there were other teams interested,” he said.

“But they pushed very hard to get me. I feel they really valued me. We had to consider the different options and I finally decided to come to Newcastle.”

The striker came out with these dubious comments after he scored the winning goal in Newcastle’s 2-1 victory over Tottenham on the weekend. It was Newcastle’s first away win since March. For the 21-year-old it was his first start for the club after making nine appearances from the bench.

Instead, Barcelona decided to spend £75m on Luis Suarez, while Real Madrid opted for £63m superstar James Rodriguez, so perhaps they won’t be too disappointed by the rumoured Perez ‘snub ‘!

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