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Ayoze Perez could take more than six months to fully adapt to Leicester City, Brendan Rodgers has admitted.

But the boss is confident that the £30m recruit will prove to be an excellent buy.

Perez was dropped for the 3-1 win over Bournemouth after a difficult start to the campaign.

While the Spaniard was sharp in pre-season, his touch and finishing has been lacking in the competitive fixtures, and he was replaced by Marc Albrighton at the King Power Stadium on Saturday.

Although Perez does not need to adjust to a new country, having scored 33 goals and in 143 Premier League appearances for Newcastle, Rodgers said City’s style of play differs so vastly from the Magpies' that the 26-year-old will need time to truly bed in.

“With Ayo it is just going to be a period of adaption,” said Rodgers. “That might be six months to a season really.

“He has come from playing in a team which played 5-4-1, very deep and very defensive and not having the ball so much.

“Now he is in a team which is really aggressive and is pressing higher up the field. And then having to do all that side plus then the football side.

“Watching him since pre-season and closely in training, he will continue to find good positions.

“Over his time, he is going to be able to get the goals that he wants. But he is a bright player and really clever. He is also very modest and humble.

(Image: Plumb Images/Getty Images)

“He’s not had too many chances (to score) because of the teams we’ve been playing against but I have no doubt in his time he will prove to be a very good signing for us.”

Rodgers made four changes for the weekend’s victory over the Cherries, but while the returns of Jonny Evans, Ben Chilwell and Wilfred Ndidi in place of Wes Morgan, Christian Fuchs and Hamza Choudhury were all expected, bringing Albrighton in for Perez was a surprise.

When Albrighton was substituted, it was Demarai Gray, and not Perez, that came on in his place.

“It was just a different idea," Rodgers said. “He has played a lot of games up until now.

“I have got other really, really good players like Marc Albrighton, who can come into the game.

"Ayoze has played and we felt that we needed a freshness against a team that are very dynamic and fast, so the three players we brought in were all fast and aggressive in Marc, Wilfred and Ben.

“I think Ayo will show over his time here is that he is a top-class player, but I've also got Demarai Gray who is a very good player, so it's very much about the squad."