Ayoze Perez has a message for Newcastle United ahead of takeover
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The club is on the brink of being taken over by a group led by financier Amanda Staveley.
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Hide AdStaveley is backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and billionaire property investors David and Simon Reuben.
Perez cited the “ambition” of Leicester City as a factor behind his move to the King Power Stadium last summer.
And the forward has spoken about his time at St James’s Park in an interview with Sky Sports.
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Hide Ad"I just wish them the best – they’re a special team for myself,” said Perez. “It was a very important part of my career.
“They gave me the opportunity to become a professional footballer, and I grew up a lot in that city, in that club. I always look at their results, and I always hope for the best for them."
Tenerife-born Perez – who gave an emotional interview to the Gazette after playing his last game for Newcastle – had been tipped to move to Spain.
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Hide Ad"To be honest, Leicester were one of the last teams that came to my agent to tell him they were interested,” said the 26-year-old.
"There were a couple of Spanish teams who we were talking to and trying to figure out if we could do a deal.
"I flew to London and had a long conversation with him (Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers), trying to get to know each other, to speak a little bit.
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Hide Ad"After I walked out of that meeting, I had the feeling that it was going to be the right decision to join Leicester. Brendan is such a great manager. The way he treated me and the way he spoke to me was important in my decision.
"Obviously, Leicester is also building up a great project. It's a great team which is developing. So, in the end, it was an easy decision. If you ask me today if it was the right one, I would say so."
Listen to the latest Mouth of the Tyne podcast on the proposed Newcastle United takeover here