Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez closing in on swoop for Stoke star Joselu with Jese Rodriguez to join Potters

RAFA BENITEZ'S swoop for Stoke City striker Joselu looks a winner once the Potters land Jese Rodriguez from Paris Saint-Germain.

Stoke are hopeful they can seal a season-long loan for Rodriguez from PSG, but remain wary of any last-minute hiccups.

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And once the 24 year-old former Real Madrid striker is on his way, they will then allow Spanish hitman Joselu to join Newcastle for around £5million.

So it will be a case of one Spanish striker in and another out for the Potters, who lost their opening Premier League game at Everton on Saturday.

Joselu scored four times for Stoke in the 2015-2016 season.

Last season he was loaned to Deportivo La Coruna, where he scored five goals in 20 games.

Benitez, though, will look beyond the 27-year-old's modest goal-scoring record.

says the Toon boss knows Joselu well from the Real Madrid youth team and will fancy his physical presence to do well in the Premier League.

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Joselu was missing from Stoke's 1-0 loss at Goodison as the club were locked in talks with Newcastle over a permanent deal.

Rodriguez, 24, is highly talented and boasts plenty of unfulfilled potential after his career was rocked by a serious knee ligament injury three years ago.

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Hence he struggled to make his mark at Real and was eventually sold to PSG for around £22m last summer.

He failed to make an impact in Paris and was loaned back to his hometown club Las Palmas for the second half of last season.

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Three goals in 13 starts and three sub appearances for Las Palmas followed just the one league goal in one start and eight sub appearances for PSG in the first half of last season.

Newly-promoted Newcastle, meanwhile, also lost their first Premier League game 2-0 at home to Tottenham.

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