Newcastle United manager John Carver has publicly stated that Manchester City are interested in signing young striker Ayoze Perez, who has enjoyed an impressive debut campaign in English football following his move from Tenerife last summer. The 21-year-old has been had a bit-part role for some of his appearances, but has scored five goals, 18 key passes and also created 18 chances in the Premier League this season already, which is an impressive stat for someone in a team which you could argue are struggling, especially as he has had to settle into new surroundings, and toughen up in the rigours of the league itself.
Carver said this to the Newcastle Evening Chronicle: "I'm not surprised [by the interest in Perez]. He's a young lad and an exciting talent, I know for a fact there is interest. You go in coaches' rooms after games and have a chat - a few people have spoken very highly of him, which is good. I had a good chat with Brian Kidd at Man City about him."
On resting the youngster: "He's got five goals - just behind Papiss [Cisse]. I took him out of the firing line and I was right to do so, it has helped him having a bit of a break. There was an awful lot of pressure on this young lad coming from Tenerife and being thrown into our cauldron, as we all know it is."