AYOZE PEREZ admits that even he was surprised at the ease with which he handled the step from the Spanish Second Division to the Premier League.

Perez’s performances in his first season with Newcastle United provided some rare bright spots during an otherwise tortuous campaign for the Magpies.

The 21-year-old was largely unknown when he completed a €2m move from Spanish Segunda Division side Tenerife last summer, but by the time the campaign ended, he was being linked with potential moves to Manchester United and Arsenal, such was the strength of his displays in a black-and-white shirt.

He finished the season with seven Premier League goals to his name, the highlight of which was an impudent back-heel that helped secure last November’s 2-0 win over West Brom, and his creativity and attacking vision enabled him to overshadow the likes of Papiss Cisse and Emmanuel Riviere to emerge as Newcastle’s most important striker.

While Mike Ashley has consistently maintained that ‘every player has their price’, there is a firm insistence from both the Magpies owner and the club’s managing director, Lee Charnley, that Perez will not be going anywhere this summer, and having been delighted with his first season in English football, the striker is looking forward to building on his efforts next term.

“I’m very happy with the way things have gone,” said Perez. “I didn’t expect to adapt to English football so quickly, but I think I did adapt.

“Literally, I achieved all the goals I had when I came. It was beyond my expectations, so I’m very, very happy.”

Perez’s performances in the first half of the season helped Newcastle briefly claim a top-five spot, but as his own form dipped in the second half of the campaign, so his team’s fortunes nose-dived.

As a 21-year-old still feeling his way in the game, Perez can be excused some fluctuations in his performance levels, and the fact that he started Sunday’s decisive final game against West Ham on the substitutes’ bench was perhaps an admission that he had been asked to make more appearances than might ordinarily have been expected given his previous lack of top-flight experience in either England or Spain.

Newcastle’s collective failings were much harder to excuse, but having allowed themselves to be drawn into the very heart of the relegation battle, at least the club’s players managed to extricate themselves with a crucial final-day victory.

“That was my favourite moment of the season,” said Perez. “The best moment was undoubtedly the last game. It was very emotional, especially when we scored the two goals.

“It felt great, and I was very emotional on a personal level. Despite the troubles we went through in the season, the fans stayed with us and supported us right through to the end.

“They supported the team all the way, and we managed to get the energy from them to get through the season.”

Perez is likely to have at least one new attacking colleague next season, with Newcastle’s recruitment team determined to sign a striker once the transfer window reopens.

Andy Carroll has indicated a desire to return to St James’ Park, but while the Magpies hierarchy have previously considered re-signing the England international, his dreadful injury record is likely to scupper any chance of a deal.

Meanwhile, Cisse has surprisingly been omitted from the Senegal squad that will take on Burundi in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier next month.