It’s looking increasingly likely that Real Madrid starlet Jese Rodriguez is set to join French Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain. However, despite L’Equipe reporting that a €25 million fee has been agreed, Los Blancos boss Zinedine Zidane has hinted that a loan deal may be preferred.
Speaking ahead of tonight’s International Champions Cup game against Bayern Munich in New Jersey, Zidane was adamant “It is not finalised yet. There is nothing signed, but it is close. When we get back to Madrid we will know more about this with Jese.” The Frenchman who guided Real madrid to an unprecedented eleventh European Cup success then continued to say “PSG are a good team, I hope it goes well for him, but Madrid is his home. He has been here his whole life. Maybe it is just for one year, then he returns home.”
Jese is clearly admired by Zidane, evidenced by his involvement in 38 games across all competitions last season. However, he was largely used as a substitute in those games and never once completed 90 minutes. At 23, the Canary Islander is determined to nail down first team football and a move to Parc Des Princes appears to be imminent.
Real Madrid have previously sold players with buy-back clauses and gone on to re-sign them. Alvaro Morata being a prime example, who is now back in the frame after spending 2 years at Serie A champions Juventus. In fact, Morata’s return to the Bernabeu, along with the emergence of Lucas Vazquez has arguably lessened the chances of Jese breaking into the first team. These sort of ‘buy-back’ deals are not permitted in France, so it will have to be a loan if Real Madrid plan on retaining the services of Jese for future seasons.