Gerard Deulofeu is closing in on what can only be described as a dream return to Barcelona – the club where he started his career back in 2011 but failed to flourish.
Six years later and after stints at Everton (initially on loan before making the switch permanent) as well as loan spells at Sevilla and AC Milan, the 23-year-old has been offered the chance to ‘come home’.
Last week, the La Liga confirmed they had activated their €12 million buyback clause to re-sign the Blues winger – who was deemed surplus to requirements by Ronald Koeman at Goodison Park following his return from the San Siro.
Here, we look at five reasons why the Deulofeu deal may not quite be all what it seems for Barca.
The winger infuriated Toffees boss Koeman during the first-half of last season with his brilliance in one moment undone by his lack of end product after that.
It’s been something we’ve seen again and again from Deulofeu – a player blessed with more ability than most players can only dream of – but, for him, it’s always been a struggle to display it regularly and to help the team.
There were signs last term, during his loan stint at Milan for the second-half of the season that he was starting to develop some rhythm – operating well on both flanks – and it was indeed this form that would have played a big part in Barca going back in for their La Masia product.
However, it remains to be seen whether Deulofeu can sustain levels of high performance, of at least ‘seven out of tens’ each week, for longer than six months.
Deulofeu netted four goals in 17 Serie A appearances for Milan.
While Barcelona have the luxury of relying on Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar when it comes to scoring goals, the diminutive Spaniard isn’t a player who is going to supplement the goalscoring charts by weighing in with too many of his own.
Indeed, while Deulofeu was prolific in Barcelona’s B side as a lead striker all those years ago, rarely has he been able to replicate that goalscoring form at the highest level.
He might be a winger nowadays but he has failed to register over four goals in a season during his career so far. His finishing is also one aspect of his game he needs to work on and Barcelona need their new signing to improve quickly.
Amazingly, Ivan Rakitic was Barcelona’s highest scorer outside of the MSN last season with nine goals in all competitions, so there is certainly a gap to be filled in this area.
Aged 23, you wouldn’t class Deulofeu as a potential talent anymore.
He’s had plenty of chances to prove his worth at the top level and what more can we expect from him? Ideally, since he now has full international honours to his name too, Barca will be expecting a bucket load of assists and goals, as well as a more mature player who can really nail down a spot in the first-team.
At the moment, he looks a long way off that given his ability to disappear in matches and failure to influence games when he isn’t seeing a lot of the ball.
His previous loan spell in La Liga at Sevilla during the 2014-15 campaign yielded pretty poor returns and you feel this is make-or-break time in Deulofeu’s career.
That said, Barcelona isn’t a bad place for him to prove his worth.
The winger’s spell at the Blues featured moments of brilliance…and the not so good.
While it is testament to Deulofeu that he has managed to get that dream Nou Camp return and had AC Milan desperate to turn his loan deal into a permanent one, the Spaniard hasn’t really addressed his work rate on the pitch.
He may possess bundles of pace and energy but the former Toffee has always struggled to track back, work for team-mates and become more switched on to his positional sense on the pitch.
Given the style of football new Barca boss Ernesto Valverde wants to implement, coupled with Blaugrana’s tradition of high-octane, fast-paced pass, move and pressing football, Deulofeu could struggle to fit into the equation.
Following on from the last point, this is very much up for debate. You’d imagined Deulofeu would have had assurances over regular game-time next season but where does he fit in?
There’s been talk Messi will drop deeper – meaning an attacking role could be freed up – but with Neymar and Luis Suarez guaranteed action as well as other top talent, it’s still going to be difficult for him to secure his spot.
