Two years ago, Joselu was in Paris with his father to watch Real Madrid win the Champions League as a fan.
In a reminder of how football powers dreams, this time he’ll be playing in the final having steered his beloved club to Wembley.
When Joselu popped up in the 88th and 91st minutes to enact a staggering late comeback on Wednesday night, Premier League fans may have rubbed their eyes in disbelief.
Yes, this was the same player who had a very limited impact in short spells at Stoke City and Newcastle United.
But in the twilight of his career, the 34-year-old striker is living out all his wishes.
Joselu is actually only on loan at the Bernabeu, from Espanyol, but his contribution for Carlo Ancelotti’s team has been remarkable – 17 goals, including five in Europe.
Coming on with nine minutes left, with Bayern Munich heading to an all-German final with Borussia Dortmund in London, Joselu refused to let Real’s dream of a 15th European title die.
He was quickest to react and score when Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer fumbled an effort by Vinicius Jr with just two minutes of normal time left.
With the Bernabeu braced for extra time, Joselu adjusted his body superbly to guide the ball home from six yards after Antonio Rudiger played the ball across.
It was a winner that had to be celebrated twice. A raised offside flag spoiled the initial joy before VAR and the semi-automated offside technology showed Joselu was onside, sparking wild scenes.
Bayern were crushed as Real advanced to their 18th European Cup/Champions League final in a very Real Madrid manner.
For lifelong fan Joselu, it must have been a dream come true. He played for the club in his late teens and early 20s but made just two first-team appearances.
With Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema ahead of him, opportunity was always going to be limited but Joselu always maintained he appreciated Jose Mourinho’s tutelage.
His career has featured short, sharp stints at several clubs in the years since.
From Real, he joined Bundesliga club Hoffenheim in 2012 but played just a season for them before being loaned to Eintracht Frankfurt.
His 14 goals there earned a move to Hannover, before Stoke paid £5.75million for him in 2015, fulfilling his ambition to play Premier League football.
But Joselu didn’t make a great deal of impact for Mark Hughes’ side, scoring only four goals in a mid-table Stoke side, and was duly loaned to Deportivo La Coruna in 2016-17.
Clearly Newcastle spotted some potential because they paid Stoke £5m for the striker in 2017. But in two seasons on Tyneside, Joselu was hardly prolific, netting just seven times in 52 games.
Joselu only really achieved a consistency of scoring when he returned to Spain with Alaves in 2019, with three consecutive seasons of double-figure goal returns.
He joined Espanyol in 2022, shortly after watching Real beat Liverpool in the stands of the Stade de France, and enjoyed an Indian summer in his career with 17 goals.
Then things came full circle, with Real taking him on loan last summer, presumably as cover in the attacking area.
Most appearances have come off the bench – though he has started 13 LaLiga games – but Joselu has proven he still has the scoring knack.
The Super Cup victory earlier this year was his first career trophy. It was followed last week by a LaLiga medal and, who knows, Europe’s greatest prize could now await after his semi-final heroics.
