With just four La Liga starts under his belt with new team Villarreal this season, Ayoze Perez has already scored six goals, trailing only Robert Lewandowski in the scoring statistics.
As Ayoze Perez’s career soars in Spain, Leicester City may come to regret allowing him to depart on a free transfer.
Having played just a supporting role in the last two seasons of his City career, Perez was let go by the team in 2023 and signed with Real Betis. His eleven goals across all competitions, including a run of goals in the latter part of the season, won him a spot in Spain’s winning Euro 2024 team and allowed Villarreal to sign him for €4 million (£3.5 million).
He’s had an incredible start to the season there. With just four starts in seven La Liga games, the 31-year-old has scored six goals, or one per 69 minutes, on the season. Thursday night’s 2-1 victory over Espanyol not only kept his team in fourth place in the standings, but it also sent him to the top of the division’s scoring rankings with a brace.
With five goals apiece, Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe and Barcelona winger Raphinha are now behind him. The only player with seven points more than the former City forward is Robert Lewandowski.
With six goals this season, Perez is only two goals short of his greatest total to date at City, which he achieved in his first season after joining for £30 million from Newcastle, where he scored eight goals. Initially a regular on the right wing, Perez also started the FA Cup final in his second season, with Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho ahead of James Maddison at number ten.
However, Perez was progressively forced to the bench by his inconsistent play, the ascent of Maddison and Harvey Barnes, and the 2021 loan arrival of Ademola Lookman. Despite starting just 11 games across all competitions in 21–22, he was still able to occasionally provide a significant impact, most notably in the Europa Conference League quarterfinal matchup with PSV Eindhoven.
He only made three Premier League starts in the first half of the 22–23 City relegation season, and he spent the second half of the season—as well as the last six months of his City contract—on loan at Real Betis. He totalled 15 goals in 114 City appearances, which he also scored in 59 Betis games. With Villarreal, he’s now well on his way to hitting that milestone far faster.
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