The rise and rise of Jese Rodriguez

Real Madrid started the new year brightly under Carlo Ancelotti after a somewhat shaky 2013 and one of the breakout stars of the team is 20-year-old Jese Rodriguez Ruiz. The young man, who is commonly known as Jese, has only just stepped out of his teens but plays like he has loads of experience under his belt. The forward already has 8 goals to his name including his first goal against Bareclona in the El Clasico this season and is expected to improve further before the current campaign ends.

Critics have compared Jese to Cristiano Ronaldo due to his attacking instincts and his ability to hold on to the ball. While it may be too soon to compare Jese to one of the world’s best and most loved players he can certainly reach that level if he continues to go the way he is going right now.

The youngster joined Real Madrid’s academy at the age of 14 and scored over 30 goals for the B team before he gained recognition from the first team coaches. Jese got a taste of first team football in 2011 when the manager then Jose Mourinho called him up for Madrid’s pre-season tour of the United states where he made one appearance against Los Angeles Galaxy. Even though he made an appearance for the first team on tour it was not until 2013-2014 that Jese was included in the first team squad where he began his journey to stardom.

The youngster has a hunger to be the best and it was his craving for success which made him quit Real Madrid last summer in search of first team football. The striker was eventually convinced to stay at the club and signed a long term contract tying him to the club until 2017. That same year the forward broke the record for the most goals scored in a single season at Castilla, which was previously held by Emilio Butragueno, when he scored his 21st goal last May.

Real Madrid legend and current Sporting Director Zinedine Zidane was so impressed with his progress that he convinced the club’s president Florentino Perez that the striker didn’t need to be sent out on loan and was perfectly capable of playing at the highest level.

It is a win-win situation as it has been many years since Real produced some successful home-grown talent. Madrid have gained the unwanted reputation of a team that prefers to buy success instead of developing it like arch-rivals Barcelona who have the best youth academy in the world in the form of La Masia which has produced extraordinary talent that has helped the club and the national team achieve success.

Madrid have seen some of their former youth players like Juan Mata and Roberto Soldado achieve success with other teams which had led to some questions about their success with youth. Madrid have seemingly learned from their mistake and Jese along with Alvaro Morata and Raphael Varane are some gifted players that have emerged from the academy.

The scary thing about Jese is that he is just scratching the surface and will become a much better player with time. He may even become another Raul, who holds the record for Madrid’s top scorer. Jese is more versatile than Raul as he is able to play in a play making role as well as on the wings and may go on to possibly emulate his compatriot. It won’t be long before he is up there with the best in the world. Excuse him while he reaches for the stars.