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Newcastle United’s Ayoze Perez To Play Out of Position?

By Bryan Nelson

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In case you missed it, The Chronicle had written an article on Newcastle United’s Ayoze Perez, the young Spanish striker that the club had signed last season. I had also labelled him as the next breakout star for Newcastle United. However, with the signing of Mitrovic, and the fact that Cisse is going nowhere may render that argument moot.

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Perez is young, but older than Mitrovic. The issue is that Perez was signed as a player with upside, to one day replace Cisse, or be used as a second striker in matches. But Mitrovic was signed with the expectation that he would be an important first-team player. So where does that leave Perez? Striker is his position, and to play him out of that position could cause some struggles.

Remember when Carver had to play Janmaat out of position? He had never played centre-back before in his life. Now, he did fine, but it isn’t something that you would want him to do week in and week out. According the article I had previously linked you to, Perez says he has no problem playing out of position, but of course, that’s because he knows it’s the only way he’s going to get playing time. At this point, I question whether or not Mitrovic is going to even start in the match against Southampton, because Cisse’s making a push. However, it is rumored that Mitrovic will start his first match in the black and white against Borussia Monchengladbach. There, he will have a chance to impress, and fans may even start pressuring McClaren to put Mitrovic in the starting lineup, instead of Cisse.

But of course, it all comes back to Perez. Where does he end up in all of this? While I would argue that Cisse doesn’t have much time left at St. James, he may very well end his career here. But that could be in five years, three years, we don’t know. And in that time, where will we have Perez playing? Being benched as a substitute, while okay for a year or two, is not the ideal situation for a player like Perez.

It’s great to see that Perez is willing to move around for McClaren, to prove that he’s not only worth starting, but that he’s versatile, and willing to do what it takes to play. But if it were me, as a manager, I would look at Perez, and think to myself that he’s a striker, not a midfielder, not a defender, but a striker. We have players that are midfielders, and more experienced in the position. Why would I put someone with little midfield experience in, rather than someone I know has a proven track record in the position?

Perez is in a tough situation, and he’s going to have to battle it out with Papiss Cisse, and new teammate Aleksandar Mitrovic, if he’s going to get the playing time he wants, and the starts he deserves. One of the worst things a club can do is overdose on a position. You don’t want too many strikers, because you end up with too many players fighting for playing time, and you know they’re not going to get it. And the same goes for any other position. If Perez doesn’t get time, he could very well ask for a transfer to somewhere else.

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