Young Deulofeu has some big shoes to fill at Barcelona

Even when news of Neymar’s possible departure this summer to Paris SaintGermain first surfaced, nobody really expected the deal to be completed. The fact that it has means that Gerard Deulofeu has some big shoes to fill.

The young Catalan, who started in La Masia aged nine, was very well thought of by his academy coaches and right up to the Barca B level, it was clear that Deulofeu had ‘something.’ If there was one stumbling block, it was his lack of awareness at crucial moments.

He could beat players at will either with his speed or his dazzling array of natural talent, but there was no end product. The easy pass rarely came, the player often preferring to showboat to the chagrin of his teammates.

It was this attitude and a perceived unwillingness to learn that saw him loaned to Everton in 2013. He would prove to be a revelation on Merseyside but Roberto Martinez didn’t follow up his glowing praise of the player with an offer.

Subsequently he was loaned to Sevilla but there too, Unai Emery suggested that Deulofeu hadn’t really righted the wrongs of his youth career and still appeared to have a chip on his shoulder when it came to taking advice. As such, his tenure in Andalusia was brief and unhappy.

Returning to Barcelona at the end of the 2015 season, it was clear that he wouldn’t break into to the Blaugrana first-team at that point so he was placed on the market and Everton finally came up with an acceptable offer. It included a buy back which would prove pivotal later on.

Injuries sadly prevented Deulofeu from recapturing his old form and so he was loaned to Milan in January of 2017. His renaissance was total in Italy but no offer to Everton ever came despite the huge influx of Chinese money into the Rossoneri coffers. Barca seized their chance and paid the buy-back clause with hours to spare before it became moribund.

Renewed impetus

It’s fair to suggest that the player wasn’t particularly happy with the turn of events — until Neymar’s departure. It gave him some renewed impetus and in the first Barcelona game of the season at the weekend, he looked completely at home alongside Lionel Messi.

Two assists for the two goals and virtually every pass completed on the night against Real Betis showed the world what he can do when he’s on song.

His challenge now is to reproduce it week in and week out. Though Barca are still chasing Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund, the club can potentially save themselves €150m (Dh707m) if Deulofeu comes up trumps.

Don’t bet against it!