Jese’s secret agony
JESE will put personal heartache aside to lead Stoke’s attack at Newcastle today.
Jese’s son Nyan was born prematurely, shortly before the player’s loan move to Stoke from Paris St-Germain last month.
The boy is still in hospital in Gran Canaria following complications and an operation, which means Jese has been combining training with flights to be at his son’s side.
Potters boss Mark Hughes yesterday paid tribute to the Spanish striker, who has made an impressive start to his Premier League career.
After Jese, 24, published an emotional social media post about Nyan this week, Hughes said: “It’s not easy for him at the moment.
“His young child is ill and he’s preoccupied with that away from the football, but when he comes in to training, he’s fully focused.
“Hopefully things will resolve themselves in the way everybody wants and his baby will start to improve and he’ll be in a better place.
“Given all those things away from the pitch, I think he’s done remarkably well.
“When it came to the international break, we sent people over to train with him while he was at home and this week we gave him a bit of extra time.”
Jese will face a Newcastle side featuring Stoke old boy Joselu, with Hughes revealing the striker first asked to quit the club just a year after joining from Hannover.
He moved to Newcastle this summer with Stoke recouping the £5m they paid for him.
Hughes added: “I think he maybe could have given it a bit longer. We rated him.”