Cristiano Ronaldo made an immediate impact at Real Madrid, helping the club secure the 2013-14 UEFA Champions League title against Atletico Madrid, but the club was already planning to develop a promising young talent who was hailed as his successor. Despite this excitement, the Portuguese ensured his place as Madrid’s greatest figure. Eight years after leaving the club, the player once dubbed “Ronaldo’s successor” has opened up about the reasons behind his unfulfilled potential.

While Real Madrid’s academy is not particularly renowned for producing legendary figures, it occasionally produces gems. One such gem was Jese Rodriguez, who made his first-team debut in December 2011 at just 18 years old, replacing Ronaldo himself. Reflecting on those early days, Jese admitted, “At that moment, I wanted to take on the world.”

However, in one of the most pivotal moments of his brief career, the Spanish winger suffered a devastating injury—a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee—following a tough challenge by Sead Kolasinac on March 18, 2014. The injury kept him sidelined for eight months, and when he eventually returned in December, his performance had notably declined.

Speaking to Spanish YouTuber Mowlihawk, Jese opened up about how this injury “changed his life forever.” “Over time, I realized that day changed my life forever. It was one of the worst days of my life…I was young and doing really well at the best club in the world, with the most pressure. Florentino took me to the best surgeon in Germany. But when I got the infection and had to be cleaned out twice, I said, ‘It’s over,'” Jese admitted.

While the Spanish media had initially made playful comparisons between him and Ronaldo—calling the Portuguese star “Bicho” (the “bug“) and referring to Jese as “Bichito” (the “little bug“)—the young forward’s road to recovery saw him move across various European leagues. His career took him from Spain to France, England, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, Brazil, and now Malaysia.

Jese on being compared with Ronaldo

Jese’s early career at Real Madrid mirrored the ascent of a giant. During the 2012-13 season, while playing for Real Madrid Castilla (the club’s second team), he broke a record set by club legend Emilio Butragueño, scoring 22 goals in 38 matches. Upon being promoted to the first team, Jese had one ambition: to surpass Ronaldo. However, he quickly realized that the comparisons were exaggerated.

“It’s true that Cristiano Ronaldo and I had similar traits, but the press exaggerated a lot. For me, he was like a mirror, and I had him at home. I wanted to win what he had already won. He was very imposing because of his seriousness and professionalism,” Jese stated. “Sometimes he would tell us, ‘Let’s go have dinner with Sergio (Ramos).’ I met him when he was still a youth player, taking a cold bath. When I moved up to the first team, he remembered that,” he admitted.

Jese recalled on his Ballon d’Or quote

One of Jese’s most memorable statements came in 2014 when, brimming with ambition, he boldly predicted, “In four years, I see myself winning the Ballon d’Or.” Now, years later, Jese has a more grounded perspective on those early ambitions.

“I was very young, I saw myself as too strong, and I’m very honest. I wouldn’t change it, but yes, maybe I could have said: ‘I think that if I keep going like this, I could be on the path to winning a Ballon d’Or,'” the Spanish player admitted.

Jese also recalled a special moment with Ronaldo after the Portuguese star won the prestigious award in 2014:: “Cristiano brought me the Ballon d’Or when he had won it and let me take a photo with it. He asked me, ‘Are you going to win it?’ and I said, ‘Yes.’ He replied, ‘That’s the attitude.'”