Alaves
How Joselu has gone from Newcastle and Stoke flop to Real Madrid move
Former Stoke and Newcastle striker Joselu's career will go full circle next week when he signs for Real Madrid.
The 33-year-old started his career as a Spain international playing for Madrid. He signed for them in 2010 from Celta Vigo and was a promising centre-forward with the under-20s and under-21s national team at the time.
Then things took a downward turn.
He never advanced to the senior team in the Spanish capital. He scored one goal in one game for Madrid's first team and was, by 2012, playing his football in the Bundesliga, first for Hoffenheim, then Eintracht Frankfurt and finally Hannover.
When he left Germany in 2016 it was to go to Stoke and not back to Spain. There were four goals in 10 starts in one season before he was signed by Deportivo where he scored just five league goals in nine starts.
Joselu was a major disappointment at Stoke City - but he has turned his career around now
It has been a long road to prosperity with tough spells at Newcastle and Eintracht Frankfurt
There were only six goal in 24 starts at Newcastle where he went next and when the journeyman finally, a decade after leaving, was repatriated for good, first by Alaves and then by Espanyol, it was still more gloom than glory.
In the 2020-21 season he was relegated with Alaves and last season he went down with Espanyol. He is one of those players who by stats alone just does not stand up to scrutiny but behind the numbers there is a talent.
He got 14 goals in Alaves' relegation season and 16 in Espanyol's. It's tough to score so prolifically in teams on the slide and he has done it consistently. What would happen if he played in a team that was actually thriving? That has been the recurring question over recent seasons and now we are finding out.
His Spain record is impressive with four goals in under 400 minutes since new coach Luis de la Fuente started picking him after taking over from Luis Enrique, who ignored the target man at his cost in Qatar.
He might not be the prettiest but is unmatchable in the air and he's the perfect late sub against a stubborn rival that cannot be broken down.
Spain were trying to pass Morocco to death at the World Cup. What effect the bigger striker might have had coming on late we will never know.
Against Norway for Spain's new manager he came on at the 81 minute point and scored on 83 and 85 minutes. He came on against Italy on Thursday and it was a similar story with a goal on 88 minutes, four minutes after his introduction.
It's not just his aerial ability. He has the intelligence to place himself where the chances will fall. He's also lethal from the penalty spot, and holds the ball up well.
The only glitch in these happier times is the possibility that he will go on being seen as a Plan B.
He now looks set for a season-long loan move from relegated Espanyol to join Real Madrid
Joselu has also become a key impact player in the Spain team under Luis de la Fuente
If he does head for the Bernabeu he could find himself as deputy to Rodrygo, in as a false No 9
De La Fuente left it so late to give him a chance against Italy, keeping faith with Alvaro Morata who squandered chance after chance before finally going off. Joselu scored with practically his first chance.
Even if he gets the nod to start against Croatia in Sunday's Nations League final and then gets his move, as expected, to Madrid at the start of next week, he knows he might end up going there as a sub.
If Real Madrid don't sign a replacement for Karim Benzema, and it's not beyond the realms of possibility that if Kylian Mbappe hangs on at Paris Saint-Germain so as not to miss out on his 'loyalty' bonuses, then it may well be Rodrygo who begins the season as the, albeit slightly false No 9, and Joselu will wait for his chance from the sidelines.
If it turns out that way Joselu will play the long game. He is likely to go to Madrid on a season long loan from relegated Espanyol but no one would back against him proving his worth over the course of the campaign.
He'll be patient. He's proof that in football sometimes everything comes to those who wait.
Continue Reading
To continue reading please choose to download our free app, or visit the original website.
Latest Alaves News
League Table
Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Collection {#1894 // resources/views/components/league-table.blade.php #items: [] #escapeWhenCastingToString: false }