HOW DID STOKE LAND GEM JESE?
Hughes hails goal hero on debut
For all the millions exchanged in an unprecedented transfer market in which Stoke have been scrutinised for comparative frugality, Mark Hughes has already benefited from a signing of relatively little cost.
A loan fee and wage contribution is the price paid by Stoke to land Jese rodriguez, who showed on a dream debut that value can still be found without having to break the bank.
Jese — pronounced ‘Hess-ay’ — scored a fine winning goal against Arsenal and provided many more moments of incisive quality to suggest those tipping Stoke for a season of struggle are misguided.
‘I think he will light up the Premier League as the season progresses,’ said a buoyant Hughes, whose side’s last Premier League win over a traditional top-six side was 2-0 against Manchester United on Boxing Day 2015.
Stoke had to wait until the final day of last season to beat a top-half team, Southampton, and much of the sniping this summer was set to that mood music. In the 2015-16 season, Stoke defeated Chelsea in November and both Manchester clubs the following month. Bloodying the noses of the best is what sustains Stoke supporters, so doubts about Hughes grew in the wake of what felt a dull last campaign. This result already feels significant.
That Stoke won with only 22.7 per cent possession — their lowest in a Premier League game since records began — should not matter. only five teams have won a Premier League game with a smaller share but Hughes’s side used the ball wisely and looked to hurt Arsenal quickly.
And Jese provided the clinical thrust. When Mesut ozil and Granit Xhaka conceded the ball in midfield just after the break, Jese fed a pass to Saido Berahino and ran into the box. Berahino weighted his pass and the Spaniard’s finish told of a forward schooled at real Madrid.
Arsenal may gripe about penalty decisions and Alexandre Lacazette’s disallowed goal for the most marginal offside but Hughes was rewarded for his gamble in starting a player in the country for only a few days and for persistence in tracking the 24-year-old, who lost his way at Paris Saint-Germain after a £21.2million move last summer.
‘He did a conditioning day on the Tuesday, Wednesday he did more work with our fitness guys, and Friday he just had a light session,’ said the Stoke manager. Jese had not trained the previous week because his newborn baby needed an operation.
So how did this gifted player and part-time rap star find himself at the bet365 Stadium? ‘We couldn’t believe our luck,’ added Hughes. ‘Prior to him going to Las Palmas [on loan in January], you make an enquiry but it is very quickly rebuffed. You bide your time but maybe those initial enquiries allowed us to be in position to get it over the line . Given his performance, it was work well done. ‘Now we are viewed differently by representatives of this kind of player. If we get in the room with players of Jese’s ilk we can pitch really, really well. In the past we couldn’t get anywhere near this type of player. I’ve missed a few but for the most part my strike-rate has been oK.’
There is no option to buy, however. ‘No, no,’ said Hughes with a smile. ‘He is a very expensive player.’ SUPER STAT: Arsenal have won only twice in 10 visits to Stoke, losing five STOKE CITY (3-4-2-1): Butland 7.5; Zouma 7, Shawcross 7, Cameron 7; Diouf 6.5, Fletcher 6, Allen 7, Pieters 6.5 (Martins Indi 89min); Shaqiri 5 (Berahino 25, 7.5), Jese 8 (Ramadan 71, 6); Choupo-Moting 5. Subs not used: Johnson, Crouch, Bojan, Grant. Scorer: Jese 47. Booked: None. Manager: Mark Hughes 8. ARSENAL (3-4-3): Cech 5; Mustafi 5, Monreal 5, Kolasinac 6 (Giroud 66, 6.5); Oxlade-Chamberlain 7, Ramsey 7, Xhaka 6 (Iwobi 79), Bellerin 6.5; Ozil 5, Lacazette 6.5 (Walcott 79), Welbeck 6.5. Subs not used: Mertesacker, Ospina, Coquelin, Elneny. Booked: None. Manager: Arsene Wenger 7. Man of the match: Jese Rodriguez. Referee: Andre Marriner 7. Attendance: 29,459.