Leicester City have decided to release forward Ayoze Perez just months after Leeds United explored a deal.
Leeds United missed out on Ayoze Perez in January and the forward is now leaving Leicester City this summer.
The Foxes suffered relegation on the final day of the Premier League season, following Leeds United into the Championship.
Just two years after winning the FA Cup, Leicester are now down in the second tier and a big overhaul is expected.
The exodus has already started with Youri Tielemans completing a move to Aston Villa this weekend.
Leicester did also publish their retained list on Monday, announcing the exits of players like Ryan Bertrand, Daniel Amartey and Ayoze Perez.
Perez spent the second half of this season out on loan at Real Betis, scoring three times in 19 La Liga games.
The 29-year-old probably knew that his days were numbered but he has now received confirmation of his departure.
Leicester forked out £30million to sign Perez from Newcastle United in 2019, but are now happy for him to leave for free.
Leeds United missed out on Ayoze Perez in January
What’s interesting is that, whilst Perez watched Leicester go down whilst playing in Spain, he could have viewed it as a rival.
CBS Sports reporter Ben Jacobs claimed in January that Victor Orta had made a tentative approach to bring Perez to Leeds.
Leeds needed to bring in attacking reinforcements in January and Orta fancied landing his fellow Spaniard.
Perez ended up in Spain instead, returning home to try his luck with Betis rather than join one of Leicester’s relegation rivals.
Georginio Rutter joined in a big move from Hoffenheim and failed to make an impact, seemingly far too raw to make a real difference in the Premier League.
Some may wonder if a more proven Premier League attacker like Perez could have offered Leeds a little more in the run-in.
Perez is available again now and maybe Leeds will have another look at him on a free transfer.
Victor Orta’s exit makes that a little unlikely but you can never say never, even with Leeds joining Leicester in the Championship.
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