Ayoze Perez has explained why he snubbed advances from Real Madrid and Barcelona in order to further his development at Newcastle.
Back in 2014, having caught the eye at Tenerife, the Spanish frontman saw doors open across Europe.
The opportunity was presented to him to link up with fierce rivals on either side of the Clasico divide.
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Barca and Real were both eager to buy into Perez’s potential, but neither had a clear route to their respective first teams mapped out.
With that in mind, and with regular game time towards the top of his priority list, Perez took the decision to head for England and join the Magpies at St James’ Park.