Jese Rodriguez Q&A: Meet the new Stoke signing, former Real Madrid wonderkid (also known as rapper Jey M) and whose girlfriend stole the show at his PSG unveiling

  • Jese Rodriguez has completed a season-long loan move from PSG to Stoke
  • Spaniard will look to resurrect his career after failing to adjust to life in France
  • Real Madrid youth product was unveiled at PSG alongside girlfriend Aurah Ruiz 
  • Winger has a rap career under the title Jey M but his playing career has faltered 
  • Sportsmail's PETE JENSON reflects on how he has ended up in the Potteries

Jese Rodriguez is one of the best strikers to come out of Real Madrid's youth academy since Raul. 

If he doesn't want that to be the extent of his footballing achievements he needs to turn the corner in a career that has been drifting for the last two years. 

Mark Hughes and Stoke might be just the combination that saves him.

Stoke new boy Jese Rodriguez will flourish in English football, says manager Mark Hughes

Stoke have signed winger Jese Rodriguez on a season-long loan from Paris-Saint Germain

As a Real Madrid academy product, he won La Liga, Copa del Rey and two Champions Leagues

As a Real Madrid academy product, he won La Liga, Copa del Rey and two Champions Leagues

Jese, pictured with his girlfriend Aurah Ruiz, has recently become a father for the third time

Jese, pictured with his girlfriend Aurah Ruiz, has recently become a father for the third time

 

So this time last year wasn't Jese the Neymar of his day?


PSG paid €21m (around £19m) for him last August and the Parisians were very excited about the prospect of a former Real Madrid player joining them. Little did they know what would come 12 months later.

And he didn't really deliver?

His presentation went well enough. His girlfriend Aurah Ruiz took centre-stage at the Parc des Princes unveiling. 

The images of the couple, along with the video of the rap single 'Yo Sabia' that he had recorded under the alias Jey M made the headlines, but when the glitz and the glamour faded the goals never came in the first half of a very disappointing season.

Gifted Jese has a point to prove after failing to make an impression at Real Madrid and PSG

Jese made an entry at Paris Saint-Germain last summer alongside his glamorous girlfriend

The footballer is passionate about his music and he has pursued a solo career since 2015

The footballer is passionate about his music and he has pursued a solo career since 2015

All his own fault or mitigating circumstances?

PSG boss Unai Emery can be a difficult coach to get along with and he had his own problems adjusting to life in Ligue 1. 

There was early friction between the two with the player feeling that as the big summer signing he should have been treated a little better. 

If being given a star-spangled welcome in Paris swelled his ego he will have been humbled by the subsequent loan move to Spanish mid-table side Las Palmas, so he will perhaps arrive a more level-headed individual at Stoke.

Miss Aurah Ruiz rose to prominence after her appearance pitch side for Jese's arrival in Paris

Miss Aurah Ruiz rose to prominence after her appearance pitch side for Jese's arrival in Paris

Jese will now test his qualities in the Premier League with a loan deal at Stoke City

Jese will now test his qualities in the Premier League with a loan deal at Stoke City

What happened at Las Palmas?

He was returning to his boyhood club. There was an over-eagerness to please on the pitch at the start and he had to endure a disastrous debut missing an open goal in the defeat to lowly Granada by actually turning a perfect cross away from goal instead of passing it into an empty net. 

Things improved, but not by much and he finished up with three goals in 16 games. Las Palmas were never going to have the money to keep him on loan for another season anyway. 

The 24-year-old failed to make the grade at Real under Zinedine Zidane but he is still ambitious

The 24-year-old failed to make the grade at Real under Zinedine Zidane but he is still ambitious

Another bad move then?

Las Palmas don't aspire to much more than mid-table safety and the club had already obtained that before he played his first game. 

Coach Quique Setien didn't really want another forward. He felt it was the defence that needed sorting out. He was also in a contract dispute with the club and poised to leave. All in all it wasn't the greatest environment for Jese to get back to his best.

The Spaniard has spent just one season at the French club following his Real Madrid exit

The Spaniard has spent just one season at the French club following his Real Madrid exit

When he was at his best, just how good was he?

He shone for Spain right from Under-16 level, going on to win the U19 European Championship in 2012 and finishing as top scorer. He was outstanding in Real Madrid's youth team too, first coming through as a winger but then scoring a record 22 goals for the B-team at a time when they were playing in Spain's highly competitive second division.

Despite having Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, James Rodriguez and Gareth Bale ahead of him in the first team he managed, against all the odds, to break through under Carlo Ancelotti in 2013-14. There were even calls for his inclusion in Vicente del Bosque's Spain squad for the 2014 World Cup.

Jese broke through at Real under Carlo Ancelotti but he soon found himself out of favour

Jese broke through at Real under Carlo Ancelotti but he soon found himself out of favour

What went wrong?

On February 18, 2014, in the last-16 Champions League game against Schalke he tore cruciate ligaments in his right knee and had to kiss goodbye his World Cup dream and eight months of football. If he debuts on Saturday he will come up against the player involved in his awful injury, Arsenal's new signing Sead Kolasinac.

Terrible injury, terrible timing

He was out for 258 days but his head never dropped and he was welcomed back by a Real Madrid dressing room who had nicknamed him 'Bichito' a diminutive version of 'Bicho' Ronaldo's moniker meaning 'bug' but suggesting something more along the lines of 'force of nature'. 

He showed he had got over the injury when Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane picked him for a Champions League game against Roma in the Olympic Stadium. He scored and gave full-back Lucas Digne (now of Barcelona), a torrid time. 

But the competition was tougher than ever at Madrid and PSG seemed like a good idea when they came calling last year.

Ruiz is frequently seen on Jese's Instagrmam and she took centre-stage at the Parc des Princes

Ruiz is frequently seen on Jese's Instagrmam and she took centre-stage at the Parc des Princes

Jese is likely to fill the void left by Marko Arnautovic as part of a three-pronged attack at Stoke

Jese is likely to fill the void left by Marko Arnautovic as part of a three-pronged attack at Stoke

Where will he play for Stoke? And what should we call him?

In a three-pronged attack he would play as a wide forward. And because Rodriguez is as common as Smith in Spain he has always answered to Jese. That's Jesay not Jessie. Stoke supporters will come up with something.

Overall should they be positive?

He's got genuine talent and with Mark Hughes coaching him he can become a much more complete forward. The Stoke fans will no doubt get behind him and stick with him in a way that he will not have experienced in France or Spain. It's easy to dismiss him as an airhead busy wasting his talent. 

But behind the rap videos and glamorous girlfriend he has shown that as well as being a character, he does also have character. If he came back from a career-threatening injury then he can come back from some bad career choices. 

And if he concentrates solely on his football then linking up with Hughes could be the making of him. If thing go well we could see Peter Crouch in Jese's next video. 

Jese is a character who will bring a new dimension to a physical Stoke side this coming term

Jese is a character who will bring a new dimension to a physical Stoke side this coming term