Jese departs Stoke on compassionate leave

The Spaniard joined the club on loan from PSG in the summer to much fanfare, which was only heightened when he scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win over Arsenal on debut.

However, he has rarely been seen around the club for large parts of the season, initially being granted permission to return to Madrid to visit his hospitalised son, before being allowed to return to his homeland again last month, a trip that he is still to return from.

Meanwhile, Jese has also caused controversy on the pitch, leaving the stadium mid-game after being named as a substitute against Swansea, before causing a fuss when he was denied the chance to take a penalty against Brighton.

Now, Stoke have confirmed that he will not feature for the club again, releasing a statement saying that the former Real Madrid man has been granted "unpaid compassionate leave".

A club spokesperson said: "In order to respond to recent press speculation surrounding Jesé Rodriguez, we would like to confirm that the club has given Jesé permission to take unpaid compassionate leave until the end of the season for personal reasons and therefore he will not be returning to Stoke during his loan period."

Jese now finds himself in the footballing wilderness once more, just two years following his €25m move to the Parc des Princes.