JUST IN: It is fair to say that Alan Shearer is pretty blunt with his praise for former Stoke City ……..

‘He’s not top, top quality’ – Alan Shearer heaps back-handed praise on Stoke City old boy

It is fair to say that Alan Shearer is pretty blunt with his praise for former Stoke City striker Joselu, who has been the somewhat unexpected hero of Real Madrid’s run to this weekend’s Champions League final.

Joselu is 34 now and, having been at Real Madrid at the start of his career, it has been a long road back taking in stops at Stoke and Newcastle United as well as Hoffenheim, Hannover, Alaves and Espanyol. He was a squad man at Stoke under Mark Hughes, with the appearances and goals shared around the front line during his season in the first team squad, reaching the League Cup semi-final and finishing ninth in the Premier League.

But he has proven a pretty reliable scorer over the last five seasons back in Spain, finishing third in the La Liga top scorers list last term behind only Robert Lewandowski and Karim Benzema despite Espanyol’s relegation. He was then summoned back to the capital on loan as Benzema left for Saudi Arabia, starting 18 games and being used from the bench 28 times as they have won the title and stayed in the hunt for what would be their 15 European Cup or Champions League trophy.

It was Joselu who came on as a sub with nine minutes to go of the semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich, trailing 1-0 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate. He equalised in the 88th minute when he pounced as Manuel Neuer spilled a shot from Vinicius Junior. He then scored the winner in the 91st minute when Antonio Rudiger slipped a pass across goal and he was there to tap home. He was initially given offside but was allowed after VAR checks. They will now take on Borussia Dortmund at Wembley.

Shearer, previewing the final for The Athletic, said: “I can’t say I expected to be writing about (either Joselu or Dortmund’s Niclas Fullkrug) going into a Champions League final.

“I had plenty of opportunities to see Joselu during his two years at Newcastle. It wasn’t easy playing up front for my old club at that point — they weren’t producing anywhere near as many chance as the likes of Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak get these days. Still, seven goals from 52 games underlines the fact that Joselu didn’t make much of an impact.

“But I don’t want to be disrespectful — he’s just scored two goals for maybe the biggest club in the world to get them to the Champions League final. He might score the winner in the final. He’s obviously not top, top quality, but there’s something in there that they thought, ‘He’ll do, we’ll take a gamble on him’. And centre-forward play itself is all about gambling.”

Shearer analysed Joselu’s brace against Bayern, a reward for gambling with the first just in case of “the one-in-a-hundred chance” Manuel Neuer blotted an otherwise superb performance couldn’t keep hold of Vinicius Junior’s shot. The second is “great movement” and body adjustment to make a close-range finish seem easy.

He added: “Centre-forward seems to be a position where you can emerge late in your career, a little like Jamie Vardy did, and it’s about experience. They’ve been around the block, they know what the game is about. They might not be the most glamorous forwards, but they don’t have to be. They just have to put the ball in the net. And by the time you’re in your thirties, sometimes you’re better than ever in the penalty box. You understand who and what you are.”