Jesé Rodríguez Ruiz (; born 26 February 1993), known as Jesé, is a Spanish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a forward for

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

club Ankaragücü. An academy graduate of

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

side

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, Jesé debuted for the senior team in 2011, making 94 appearances across all competitions for the club and scoring eighteen goals. During his time in Madrid, which was disrupted by a serious knee injury in 2014, he won two Champions League medals, as well as a title in each of La Liga, the

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

and the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

. Jesé left the club in 2016 to join

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. ...

side Paris Saint-Germain for a reported fee of €25 million, before returning to Spain six months later to join hometown club Las Palmas on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

for the remainder of the season. Jesé then joined

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Sto ...

on loan for the 2017–18 season, and later

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vi ...

for the second half of the 2018–19 La Liga campaign. After a brief loan spell with

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal ...

club

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional fo ...

, Jesé left PSG to rejoin Las Palmas on a permanent deal. On the international stage, Jesé earned 36 caps at youth level for Spain from under-16 to under-21 level, scoring sixteen goals overall. He was part of the Spain U19 side which won the

2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 61st edition of UEFA's European Under-19 Championship (the eleventh since the age competition change to an Under-19 level) and took place in Estonia from 3 to 15 July. Spain are the title hol ...

and claimed the Golden Boot award for ending as the tournament's top goalscorer. Jesé is also a

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who w ...

and goes by the stage name Jey M. He was previously part of a two-man

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ), also known as reggaetón and reguetón (), is a music style that originated in Panama during the late 1980s. It was later popularized in Puerto Rico. It has evolved from dancehall and has been influenced by American hip hop, ...

band which was formed in March 2014 and disbanded later that year.

Club career

Real Madrid

Early career

Born in

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spain, Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in th ...

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Mo ...

, Jesé began his football career with local team

Huracán Huracan (; es, Huracán; myn, Hunraqan, "one legged"), often referred to as ''U Kʼux Kaj'', the "Heart of Sky", is a Kʼicheʼ Maya god of wind, storm, fire and one of the creator deities who participated in all three attempts at creating hu ...

in 2005, whom he joined from amateur side El Pilar. His form at youth level for the club saw him attract interest from

sides

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league s ...

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bale ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

, but he opted to sign for

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if ...

in 2007, aged 14. Jesé made his senior debut for the

Real Madrid Castilla Real Madrid Castilla Club de Fútbol is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team that plays in Primera Federación, Primera Federación – Group 1 for the 2022–23 Primera Federación, 2022–23 season. It is Real Madrid CF, Rea ...

side on 16 January 2011 in a 5–0

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Fo ...

home win over Universidad de Las Palmas. His performance throughout the match, which included an assist for

Dani Carvajal Daniel "Dani" Carvajal Ramos (; born 11 January 1992) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a right back for La Liga club Real Madrid and the Spain national team. Having risen through the Real Madrid youth ranks, he spent a seas ...

, drew early comparisons to fellow Real Madrid teammate and multiple

Ballon d'Or The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual football award presented by French news magazine '' France Football'' since 1956. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year (fo ...

winner,

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...

. Jesé spent most of the season with Real Madrid's ''Juvenil A'' team, however, and enjoyed a successful 2010–11 campaign which earned him a permanent promotion to the Castilla side.

2011–13: Youth and entrance to the first team squad

In July 2011, Jesé was selected by first-team

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

José Mourinho for the club's pre-season tour of the United States and made his non-competitive debut for Real Madrid in a friendly against

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...

, coming on as a 64th minute substitute for

José Callejón José María Callejón Bueno (; born 11 February 1987) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a forward or winger for Granada. He began his career with the reserve teams of Real Madrid, but made a name for himself at Espanyol. In ...

and scoring in a 5–1 win. He returned to the Castilla for the start of the season and scored his first goal on 2 October 2011 against

La Roda CF La Roda Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football club based in La Roda, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. Founded in 1999 it plays in Segunda División B – Group 4, holding home games at ''Estadio Municipal de Deportes'', which ...

, finishing an

assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: * Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a b ...

from

Álvaro Morata Álvaro Borja Morata Martín (; born 23 October 1992) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Atlético Madrid and the Spain national team. He began his career at Real Madrid, making his debut with the sen ...

in a 4–2 away loss. Having impressed with the reserve side during the first half of the season, Jesé was handed his senior debut on 12 December in the first round of the

, replacing Ronaldo for the final fifteen minutes of a 2–0 away triumph over