Ayoze Perez hobbles off injured after scoring opener for Newcastle at Brighton

GOALSCORER Ayoze Perez hobbled off injured in the first half moments after firing Newcastle ahead against Brighton.

The Spaniard was in clear discomfort in his celebrations when he rifled the visitors ahead on 18 minutes.

Perez, 25, smashed home Salomon Rondon's knock down to pile further misery on Chris Hughton's relegation-threatened side.

But he lasted until 33 minutes until Rafa Benitez was eventually forced to replace him with Chelsea loanee Kenedy.

Perez, who was holding his side, then headed immediately down the tunnel for treatment.

Since the start of March, no Premier League player can match his seven league goals scored.

So it is no wonder Benitez is desperate to keep him at the club.

Speaking of speculation over a summer switch, he replied: "Fight to keep him? Yeah, he is an important player for us.

“At the same time, the prices of players are so crazy it is not easy to say, ‘I will go and get this player or that player.’

“It is the same for us. If someone comes, we’ll see where we are but I think Ayoze could be fine if we do the right things and he is happy because we can do the right things.

“I think at the end of the season you will see a lot of clubs linked with selling four or five players and wanting to buy four or five."


Source: Read Full Article