Ayoze Pérez Gutiérrez (born 29 July 1993) is a Spanish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

Villarreal Villarreal (officially, in ) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's capital ( ...

and the Spain national team. Pérez began his career at hometown club

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1922, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez L� ...

, where he received several personal awards for his performances in the

2013–14 Segunda División The 2013–14 Segunda División season (known as the ''Liga Adelante'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 83rd since its establishment. The season started on 17 August 2013 and the league phase of 42 rounds ended on 8 June 2014. The entire season en ...

season before joining

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

for around €3 million, where he played for five seasons. In 2019, he moved to another English club,

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, as he won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

and Community Shield two years later. In 2023, he was also loaned to Spanish club

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

with five months remaining on his Leicester contract, before he joined the club later that year on a free transfer. After one season with Betis, he joined Villarreal in 2024. Pérez previously represented Spain internationally at under-21 level. He made his debut with the senior team in June 2024, and was a part of their

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

winning squad.

Club career

Tenerife

Born in

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife (; locally ), commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz, is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and one of the capitals of the Canary Islands, along with Las Palmas. Santa Cruz has a ...

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

, Pérez finished his formation with local club

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

, making his senior debut with the B-team in the 2011–12 season, in the fourth division. He appeared with the main squad in the third level in the following campaign, featuring in 16 matches and scoring once as the ''Blanquiazules'' returned to division two after a two-year absence. After impressing in the 2013 pre-season, Pérez played his first professional match on 18 August, starting in a 1–0 away defeat against Alcorcón. He scored his first goal in the "silver category" on 29 September, in a 1–0 home win over

Real Madrid Castilla Real Madrid Castilla Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team that plays in . It is Real Madrid's reserve team. They play their home games at the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium with a capacity of 6,000 seats. Reserve teams in Spain play in the ...

. On 23 March of the following year Pérez scored his first

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

of his career, starting in a 5–0 thrashing against Ponferradina. This was one of the performances which earned him the league's Player of the Month award, which he retained for a second consecutive time while his manager Álvaro Cervera won

the equivalent The Equivalent was a sum negotiated at £398,085 10s. 0d. () paid to Scotland by the English Government under the terms of the Acts of Union 1707. Proposals for it first emerged in the course of abortive Union negotiations in 1702 to 1703. The E ...

. In October 2014, Pérez won the ''Breakthrough Player in the 2013–14 Segunda División'' and ''Best Attacking Midfielder in the 2013–14 Segunda División'' awards at the LFP Awards Ceremony.

Newcastle United

On 5 June 2014, Pérez rejected interest from

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

to join

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

for an estimated €3 million fee. The deal was confirmed a day later. He made his league debut on 17 August, replacing fellow debutant

Emmanuel Rivière Emmanuel José Rivière (born 3 March 1990) is a French former professional footballer. Rivière primarily played in the lead striker role, but can also operate on wings. He was a French youth international having played at all levels before s ...

in the 83rd minute of a 2–0 home defeat against then-champions

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. Pérez scored his first goal in his first league start on 26 October, in a 2–1 away win over

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. Six days later, as a half-time substitute for Papiss Cissé, he scored the only goal of the game to defeat

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and give Newcastle their fourth successive win. On 9 November, Pérez made it three league goals in as many games in a 2–0 away win against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

. He scored less frequently in the second half of the season as Newcastle struggled, but his equaliser against the same opponents on 9 May 2015 ended a run of eight consecutive defeats under John Carver, as Newcastle avoided relegation. Pérez scored Newcastle's first in a 2–2 draw with title holders Chelsea on 26 September 2015. On 18 October, he recorded a goal in a 6–2 rout of

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

, Newcastle's first win of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

. He scored the only goal of an away win at

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

on 7 November, with Newcastle's only shot on target. On 13 December, as a substitute, he scored an added-time winner at

, moving Newcastle out of the relegation places. On 1 February 2016, Newcastle United announced that Pérez signed a new contract, committing himself to the club until the summer of 2021. Pérez stayed with Newcastle despite a drop into the Championship, helping the club return to the Premiership immediately after one season. Pérez ended the season with 9 goals in 25 appearances, with 11 of them coming as starts, scoring key goals against title rivals Brighton as well as Barnsley to help seal the Championship title on the final day of the season. He scored his first Premier League goal of the season in a 2–2 draw at

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

on 15 October. He then scored in consecutive matches in a 1–0 away win over Stoke City and a brace in a 3–1 home win over

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

in the

. On 31 March 2018, Pérez ended his 8-match goalless run by scoring the only goal in a victory over

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

, in the 80th minute. Pérez continued his good form with a goal and an assist each, in wins over

and

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. On 20 April 2019, he scored his first hat-trick for the club in a 3–1 win over

. In doing so, he became the first player to score a Premier League hat-trick for Newcastle since

Georginio Wijnaldum Georginio Gregion Emile Wijnaldum (; born 11 November 1990) is a Dutch professional association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ettifaq FC, Al-Ettifaq, whom he captain (association football), captains, ...

in 2015.

Leicester City

On 4 July 2019, Pérez signed a four-year contract with Leicester City for a fee of £30m. He made his competitive debut for

in a 0–0 draw with

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

on 11 August. On 25 October 2019, Perez scored his first goal for Leicester City, going on to complete a hat-trick in a 9–0 away win over

. On 11 April 2021, Pérez was one of three players dropped from Leicester's squad for the game against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

after breaching

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

protocols.

Real Betis

On 31 January 2023, Pérez joined

on loan for the remainder of the 2022–23 season. He scored his first goal for the club in a 4–1

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

defeat against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

on 9 March. Later that year, on 5 June, following Leicester City's relegation from the

, it was announced that Pérez and six other first team players would be leaving the club upon the expiration of their contracts at the end of the month. On 6 July 2023, after being a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

, Pérez joined Betis on a permanent basis and signed a four-year contract with the club.

Villarreal

On 13 August 2024, Pérez joined fellow La Liga club

on a four-year contract with the club. He scored three goals in his first five league games for Villarreal. He marked his debut season with Villarreal by scoring 19 goals, making him the club's top scorer.

International career

On 29 August 2014, Pérez received his first call-up to the Spain national under-21 team for the 2015 European Under-21 Championships qualifying matches against

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. He made his under-21 debut as a 77th-minute substitute for Munir El Haddadi against Hungary on 4 September. On 27 May 2024, Pérez was called up to the senior national team's provisional squad for the

. A few days later, on 5 June, he recorded his first goal and assist on his debut in a 5–0 friendly victory against

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

at the Estadio Nuevo Vivero.

Personal life

Pérez's older brother, Samuel, is also a forward, who has played for

Blyth Spartans Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is an association football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park. They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secre ...

and

Berwick Rangers Berwick Rangers Football Club is a football team based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed in England, who play in the Scottish football system. Founded in 1881, they currently play in the , the fifth tier of Scottish football, despite being ba ...

. He currently plays for Alnwick Town in the

Northern Football Alliance The Northern Football Alliance is a football league based in the North East, England. It has four divisions headed by the Premier Division, which sits at step 7 (or level 11) of the National League System. The top club in the Premier Division i ...

Premier Division. His cousin María José Pérez is a forward for Levante UD Femenino and the Spain women's national team. After leaving Newcastle, Perez became the subject of a comedy-drama based on a true story when a teenage girl convinced her parents to buy the property next to his. On the day they moved in, Perez was transferred to Leicester City. The show, starring ex-Emmerdale star Charlie Hardwick and local stand-up comedian Mike Milligan, was recorded by the Newcastle Evening Chronicle as “the most incredible story to come out of the WAGS generation”.

Career statistics

Club

International

''Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first.''

Honours

Newcastle United *

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

: 2016–17 Leicester City *

: 2020–21 *

FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is Football in England, English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Spain *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Individual * Segunda División Player of the Month: March 2014, April 2014 *Segunda División Breakthrough Player: 2013–14 *Segunda División Best Attacking Midfielder: 2013–14 *Segunda División Team of the Season: 2013–14 * ''The Athletic'' La Liga Team of the Season: 2024–25

References

External links

Newcastle official profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pérez, Ayoze 1993 births Living people Footballers from Santa Cruz de Tenerife Spanish men's footballers Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards CD Tenerife B players CD Tenerife players Newcastle United F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Real Betis players Villarreal CF players Tercera División players Segunda División B players Segunda División players Premier League players English Football League players La Liga players Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2024 players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England UEFA European Championship–winning players 21st-century Spanish sportsmen