John Carver admits he is aware of interest in striker Ayoze Perez from Premier League champions Manchester City – but believes he should remain at Newcastle beyond this season . The Magpies paid just £1.6million for the Spain Under-21 starlet last summer . He is now rated in the £15m bracket and City have spoken to Carver about the former Tenerife frontman , who they also tracked before his move to Tyneside . But it was Newcastle who moved fastest to secure his signature in June , also beating off competition from the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona . Carver concedes they had anticipated Perez would spend the majority of the season with Peter Beardsley ’ s development squad . Spanish striker Ayoze Perez has impressed for the Magpies since arriving from Tenerife in the summer . On Sunday , however , he will lead the line at Everton as United begin the first of seven matches without top goalscorer Papiss Cisse , banned for his part in the shameful spitting incident with Manchester United ’ s Jonny Evans . But Carver is confident five-goal Perez can carry the scoring burden in Cisse ’ s absence and says he is not surprised by admiring eyes being cast from the Etihad . ‘ I know for a fact there is interest in him , ’ said Carver . ‘ You go in coaches ’ rooms after games and have a chat . A few people have spoken very highly of him , which is good . I had a good chat with Brian Kidd at Man City about him . ‘ I ’ m not surprised by that . He ’ s a young lad and an exciting talent . Perez ( bottom ) has scored five goals for Newcastle and has attracted interest from Manchester City . Newcastle 's Papiss Cisse and Manchester United 's Jonny Evans squared up to each other at St James ' Park . ‘ When we signed him we thought he would have a full season in the under-21 team developing . But he was thrown in at the deep end and he dealt with it. ’ Perez was named Tenerife Sportsman of the Year this week having also collected best breakthrough player in Spain following his 16 goals in their second tier last term . But the frontman – who is being touted for a call-up to the senior Spain squad – is not concerned about the fuss surrounding his future . ‘ It would be a mistake to start thinking about that now , it is too early . I ’ ve only been at Newcastle a few months and I am very happy . I continue to work as usual and I am in no rush , ’ he said . Newcastle caretaker coach John Carver takes training ahead of facing Everton on Sunday afternoon . ‘ I just think about helping the team and returning all the trust they have put in me . Everything else ? If you keep working hard , sooner or later it will end up coming. ’ Carver agrees . ‘ I think it is best he stays here , absolutely , ’ said the head coach . ‘ He ’ s made the next step in his career and this is a fantastic place to continue that development . ‘ I took him out of the firing line recently and I thought it was right to do so . ‘ It has helped him having a bit of a break . There was an awful lot of pressure on this young lad coming from Tenerife and being thrown into our cauldron , as we know it is . ‘ But I thought he dealt with it well and it 's part of my job to deal with him and make sure he does n't disappear into the wilderness . ’
Ayoze Perez arrived for £1.6million in the summer from Tenerife . Newcastle will be without Papiss Cisse for seven games following a ban . John Carver 's side head to Everton on Sunday in the Premier League .