Premier League duo Arsenal and Liverpool are set to lock horns over the signature of Real Madrid attacker Jese Rodriguez.
The Sun have claimed that Arsenal and Liverpool are interested in bringing the Spanish forward to the Premier League. Marca had claimed earlier on Tuesday that Real Madrid are open to the possibility of Jese leaving the Spanish capital and are willing to listen to offers for the player. The report says that while Zidane likes the player and enjoys a healthy relationship with him, the Real Madrid manager has advised the forward to secure a move away from the Santiago Bernabeu if he wants regular first-team action.
Arsenal have been perennially on the hunt for a striker this summer with failed attempts to sign Gonzalo Higuain, who secured a move to Juventus on Tuesday and breakout England international Jamie Vardy, who chose to sign a new contract with the current Premier League champions Leicester City. Jese would provide a different play-style to the Gunners compared to Olivier Giroud. While the Frenchman is great in the air and playing his teammates on while holding on to the ball perfectly, the Spanish striker is known for his well-timed runs and his ability to take the ball past his opponents.
Liverpool are suffering from a striker crisis with quality forwards like Christian Benteke and Mario Balotelli having a relatively dry spell at Anfield. Klopp has made numerous signings this summer but none of them have resulted in the attack being bolstered. Jese would suit the German’s high-pressing counter-attacking style of play completely, if he were to sign for the club.
Jese has been with Real Madrid since the age of 14 and has progressed through the academy ranks along with fellow academy graduate Alvaro Morata. The forward has seen his chances limited ever since breaking out onto the first-team setup at the Santiago Bernabeu. Jese did manage to make 28 league appearances last season but 21 of them were from the bench and overall, the Spaniard played for only 827 minutes in Liga BBVA for Los Blancos (stats via whoscored).
The minutes equal to just more than 9 full games’ worth which is most likely leave the youngster feeling short-changed. The forward is yet to make his senior international debut for Spain and if he does want to feature for La Furia, he would need to secure regular first-team football. Zinedine Zidane has already hinted that Jese would not be getting game-time much greater than last season and with the 23-year-old only having a year left on his contract at the Santiago Bernabeu, that could just persuade Jese to agree to a move elsewhere.
