Jese Rodriguez: From Real Madrid to Stoke City via PSG

When your club signs someone who came through the Real Madrid youth academy and later moved to French giants PSG, the expectations should be sky high. A quick glance at Jese Rodriguez’s honours list sees a player who has won two Champions Leagues, a LaLiga title as well as the Copa del Rey. Now, he’s about to join Stoke City – why?

Jese is a player who was talked about as having incredible potential. A superstar at youth level for both Real Madrid and Spain, many predicted a bright future for the man from Las Palmas.

He won the U19 European Championship in 2012, finishing the tournament as the highest scorer. Jese was a goal machine, a leader and a player capable of breaking into the first team. This at a time when Madrid didn’t look to their academy. He was special.

READ MORE: Premier League transfers – all the ins and outs

Mourinho wasn’t a fan

Jose Mourinho didn’t share the same vision. “In the first team there are good players but all of the academy players see it (playing in the first team) as being far away. I don’t know why that’s happening.”

Never one to mince his words, Jese knew his value and the reputation he held amongst the club’s fans – and president.

During 2013 there was a lot of hype around Jese and many believed he should have been in the first team squad. The player himself believed that too. “I’m a very humble person but if you don’t get the opportunity, you begin to lose hope.”

READ MORE: Stoke sign Jese Rodriguez from PSG

At one point, someone in the coaching staff at Castilla, said: “If Jese doesn’t move up to the first team, you need to hand in the keys and close La Fabrica.”

Jese was the ‘new Cristiano Ronaldo’ during his time at Castilla, so high were the expectations of him. Mourinho’s excuse for not using Jese was that the player’s favoured position didn’t exist in his setup. “I think he’s a coach who likes to surround himself with players he doesn’t need to develop.”

Aitor Karanka saw his talent though and he was very close to joining Middlesbrough last January.

The long road back to the top

So what saw one of Madrid’s brightest young talents go from future superstar to, with the greatest respect, signing for Stoke City? It was a combination of a few things. The lack of opportunities with the first team didn’t help but a cruciate knee injury back in 2014 made it even more difficult.

For a player who relies on his explosiveness, a knee injury is the worst one you can suffer. “The reality is the injury put my my career on hold, both in football and in my personal life, and from there I’ve lost a lot. To have continuity, to play, to feel more secure and more comfortable, is difficult.”

You can see it had a psychological impact on Jese too. “I have thought about it. And I’ve never liked comparing myself to anyone, but I think I would be an undisputed starter for Real Madrid (if not for my injury). Of that I’m sure.”

Despite getting minutes off the bench under then coach Carlo Ancelotti, Jese needed regular playing time to develop. That wasn’t going to happen at Madrid and he joined Paris Saint Germain for €25m.

Swapping Paris for Las Palmas

A move away from the glitz and glamour of Madrid appeared to be a wise choice but it isn’t like Paris is a quiet town where everyone keeps to himself or herself either. Unai Emery still saw potential in Jese and wanted to give him the opportunities he needed to grow. Unfortunately it didn’t work out and in January Jese was on the move again.

“With Emery I didn’t play, it’s clear he didn’t like me.”

There were plenty of options but it was the chance to go return to Las Palmas that appealed the most. After feeling undervalued, unneeded, Jese simply wanted to be around his family and friends. If he could fire Las Palmas into the Europa League spots even better.

Unfortunately he joined Las Palmas at a point where the entire team were on holiday. A wonderful opening six months in LaLiga was seen as enough by a lot of players. They didn’t push on and fight for the European spots, they only went backwards. Despite Setien’s best efforts to turn the situation around, Las Palmas lost 13 of their 18 fixtures following Jese’s arrival.

Right place, wrong time

People were concerned that Jese would ‘enjoy’ Las Palmas too much, maybe get distracted by off the field activities. He’s a music artist too, going by the name Jey M. However all reports from Las Palmas suggest Jese was a model professional at the club and didn’t cause any problems. It was simply a case of the right place but at the wrong time.

There’s a determination on the part of the player to prove his doubters wrong, to prove he can comeback from that injury. He wants to show the world the talent we all know he possesses. Stoke could be the ideal place for him.

The injury and subsequent history has seen Jese mature as a person. Sometimes you can do more damage to a player’s development if you constantly praise their abilities. Some see it as a challenge to reach the top whereas others think they are already there. Jese knows he needs to rebuild his reputation – and quickly.

Can he do it on a cold, windy night in Stoke?

Depending on how Stoke set themselves up this season, Jese should get opportunities down the middle. That’s his strongest position. He can play off another striker or just behind the forward in an advanced midfield role. In Bojan, he’ll find another young Spaniard looking to reforge his reputation in England.

Above all Jese needs to play. His personal goals and expectations are on the backburner as he looks for consistency. It’s imperative he finds a coach who believes in him too. So often it felt like Jese was thinking about the next phase of his development before he had even finished the one he was at. Now it’s about the collective, the team, and being an important part of it.

If Jese is considered fit enough to play he could make his debut against Arsenal at the weekend. It would see Jese come face to face with the man who injured him three years ago, Sead Kolasinac. The powerful left-back bundled over Jese while playing for Schalke and it might be another mental hurdle he needs to overcome.

If Stoke can get Jese playing to his potential then they could have someone who will make a real difference in the final third. For the player it’s about rebuilding a once huge reputation. And what better way than proving he can do it on a cold, windy night in Stoke?