Jese must clean up his image at Sporting CP, says Simao

Jese Rodriguez must clean up his image in order to become a success at Sporting CP, according to the club's former winger Simao.

After a disappointing three-year spell at Paris Saint-Germain, Jese joined Sporting on loan in a deadline-day deal with a purchase option included for the Portuguese club.

Simao, who began his career at Sporting and went on to become one of his country's finest players, compared Jese to Benfica's Moroccan attacking midfielder Adel Taarabt, who arrived in Portugal with his reputation at a low ebb in 2015.

"Jese must change," Simao told AS.

September 4, 2019

"Taarabt, for example, had a second chance. He has to want to change. He will have another chance and he must wash his image."

Jese was considered to be one of European football's bright prospects when he joined PSG from Real Madrid for €25million in August 2016 but he struggled to settle at Parc des Princes.

He made just two of his 14 appearances in all competitions as a member of the starting line-up and was sent out on loan to Las Palmas, Stoke City, Real Betis, and finally to Sporting where he will hope to earn a permanent transfer.

Simao called upon the 26-year-old to reinvent himself in the Primeira Liga, where he hopes to help Marcel Keizer's side improve on last season's third-placed finish.

Simao said: "In these situations, the most important thing is to play and make a life outside the grounds of game that allows you to be at a good level and play again at the level you were at in the past."