Stoke City made their sixth signing of the summer on Wednesday morning by snapping up attacker Jese Rodriguez on a season-long loan deal from Paris Saint Germain.
The 24-year-old joins Darren Fletcher, Kurt Zouma, Maxim Choupo-Moting, Bruno Martins Indi and Josh Tymon through the front door as Mark Hughes looks to improve upon last season’s thirteenth-placed finish.
Discussing the new arrival, chief executive Tony Scholes confirmed that the Potters saw off strong competition to land their man:
“Jese was a man in demand when PSG made it clear they would allow him to leave on loan and we’re delighted he has chosen to join us. He hasn’t had the happiest of periods in his career in Paris but he’s still only a young man and is hungry to make a big impression in the Premier League. His pedigree speaks for itself and he will most certainly add to the firepower at our disposal.”
Meanwhile, the new boy chipped in with:
“I am very happy to be here, a new opportunity, a new challenge in the Premier League. I have never had an opportunity like this here so I am very happy to have the chance to show what I can do…Let’s see how I get on with training over the next few days with the team, but I can’t wait to get started. Obviously it is up to the manager to decide whether to choose me in the line-up, but first and foremost I really want to get to know the rest of the team.”
The History
Born in the Canary Islands, the Potters’ prodigious new arrival played for youth teams at El Pilar and Huracan before being snapped up by Real Madrid aged 14.
Rodriguez thrived as a member of Real’s B team, bagging 22 goals and 12 assists in the 2012/13 campaign, but – similar to Chelsea’s new signing Alvaro Morata – failed to cement a regular role for the Spanish giants.
It’s easy to see why he was afforded the nickname “the eternal understudy”.
Over the following three seasons with Real, only 14 of his 62 La Liga appearances arrived in the starting XI. A knee injured sustained in March 2014 – through a challenge from Arsenal’s new recruit Sead Kolasinac – hardly helped, though, and sidelined him for nine months.
Yet it’s a measure of his talents (and/or Real’s dominance of the majority of their league matches) that Rodriguez still managed 13 goals and 12 assists in just 1952 minutes during those three La Liga years.
Snapped up by PSG last summer with just one year remaining on his contract at the Bernabeu, the 24-year-old once again failed to establish himself. Handed just one league start and eight sub outings, he notched once in 263 minutes prior to joining Las Palmas on loan for the rest of the campaign.
Finally cementing a regular role, he mustered three goals and an assist in 16 appearances (13 starts) before returning to Paris this summer. Yet the arrival of Neymar once again dented his prospects of pitch time and persuaded Hughes to make his move.
On the international stage, Rodriguez has played at every youth level for Spain from Under 16 through to Under 21. Much was expected after he won the Golden Boot in Spain’s successful 2012 European Under 19 Championship but that subsequent lack of pitch time means he’s yet to play for the senior side.
The Prospects
With their talisman Marko Arnautovic legging it to West Ham, Stoke’s desperately need to boost their options in the final third after netting a meagre 41 goals from 2016/17 – only five teams found the net on fewer occasions.
Although he’s versatile enough to play across all four attacking positions in a 4-2-3-1 set-up, the Spaniard’s favoured spot is on the left flank, allowing him to cut inside onto his right before firing an effort on goal.
He was mainly utilised on the left by Las Palmas last season, producing a shot every 34.1 minutes and key pass every 77.4 minutes.
That could mean that he’s been acquired as a direct replacement for Arnautovic, who lagged behind him for frequency of shots (45.4 minutes) but was quicker when it came to supply a key pass (54.5). The pair were also very similar for successful dribbles per appearance (Jese edges it by 2.1 to 1.9).
Standing five foot 10 inches, a ratio of one successful header from 10 attempts highlights his frailties in the air and suggests he is unlikely to be handed the lone striker role.
Yet Hughes’ tactical tinkering could force a reassessment. If the manager sticks with the 3-4-2-1 system utilised in recent matches, Rodriguez may be handed a central support role alongside Xherdan Shaqiri.
While there’s no denying his talents, it remains to be seen whether the new boy can reignite his career at the bet365 in the same manner as Arnautovic or – like former Barcelona starlet Bojan – struggle to justify the hype.
Classified as a midfielder in Fantasy Premier League, he’ll set you back 6.0 – the same as team-mate Shaqiri and cheaper than Berahino’s 6.0 up front. In the Sky Sports offering, though, Jese has been listed as a forward and comes in at £10m.
Certainly, with fellow new boy Eric Choupo-Moting also able to play in a central support berth, Joe Allen’s chances of being fielded in an advanced role now look minimal at best.
Having played a prominent part in PSG’s pre-season, Rodriguez could be in line for a debut outing at home to Arsenal this weekend.
Yet with West Brom, Man United and Chelsea also to follow in the next five, steering clear for now looks the best policy until the schedule improves in Gameweek 6.
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