Newcastle United fans have been pining after Ayoze Perez after the Leicester City forward tweeted a happy birthday message to his former club.
Perez posted a tweet yesterday to acknowledge Newcastle’s 128th birthday, marking the date when Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End merged to form the club.
The 27-year-old’s message was accompanied by some photos of him celebrating goals and winning the Championship title in the 2016/17 season.
The Spaniard left the club to join Leicester on a four-year contract in a £30million deal back in July 2019, but his nostalgic message has stirred the memories of Magpies fans.
Perez scored 48 goals in 195 appearances for Newcastle between 2014 and 2019, helping them return to the Premier League under manager Rafa Benitez.
He was the club’s top scorer with 12 goals in the 2018/19 campaign before he left for Leicester and was a well-liked player amongst fans.
His departure in the summer of 2019 came in a time of flux for the Magpies, who had parted ways with Benitez the previous month at the end of his contract.
While Perez’s fee of £30m is topped only by Andy Carroll’s to Liverpool in January 2011 and Moussa Sissoko in August 2016, his departure was seen as Newcastle being unambitious and happy to downgrade their playing squad.
Perez has only been a moderate success at Leicester, netting nine goals in 49 appearances so far, but he did score in the Foxes’ 2-1 win over Sheffield United on Sunday.
And his warm tweet about his five years at Newcastle - and time with Benitez - has left Magpies fans yearning to be reunited with the Spaniard.
Here’s how supporters reacted on Twitter yesterday.
Newcastle will have to make do without Perez when they face West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Saturday.
The Magpies are getting back to action this weekend after last Friday's game against Aston Villa was called off due to a "significant increase" in Covid-19 cases at the club.
Five players and two staff tested positive for the coronavirus, but Steve Bruce's side did return to full group training on Wednesday.
