Spanish outlet Libertad Digital have claimed that Atletico Madrid have now joined Valencia in the race to sign Newcastle United attacker Ayoze Perez, in a move that will leave Toon fans fuming.

Perez, 25, shone for Newcastle during 2018-19, finishing as the club’s top scorer in the league with 12 goals from the right flank. He appeared in all but one of the club’s 38 Premier League outings.

Plenty of speculation has been made about his future, with the player himself hinting at leaving the club. Now, Diego Simeone wants Perez to join his star-studded squad at the Wanda Metropolitano.

However, Atletico are confident they can land the Spaniard for a bargain fee – between £8.9million and £13.3million – which will leave Newcastle fans frustrated if a deal between Newcastle and Atletico is agreed.

Another Spanish outlet, newspaper AS, have previously claimed that Perez has a release clause in his contract worth £26.7million – but the figure reported by Libertad is far below that.

TBR’s view

Losing Perez for anything less than £20million is a travesty and another blight on Mike Ashley’s record as owner of such a big club. Ashley is already under fire for failing to agree a deal for Rafa Benitez.

Not only that, but he has shown next to no ambition in the transfer market and fans are already furious. If Perez, perhaps Newcastle’s best player, leaves the club for a fee of just £8.9million, fans will be outraged.