The Spanish “Barcelona” has brought up a large number of high-class football talents who now play either for the Catalan club or for other leading teams in Europe. Many players are already successful professionals, but some of them are still ripening and gaining experience, in order to then reach a new level. Among them, it is worth highlighting such a football player as Gerard Deulofeu. The young winger gives quite impressive hopes. In the future, perhaps, great achievements await him, but so far he is only developing, even if he has already managed to change more than one club. What is the career path of this player? Which teams have Gerard Deulofeu already played in? What club is currently playing for? You can learn all this from this article.
Carier start
As mentioned above, Gerard Deulofeu is a pupil of the Catalan “Barcelona”, one of the strongest clubs in the world.
He was born in 1994 in Spain and already in 2003 at the age of 9 years old appeared in the system of the Catalan club. For a long time, the athlete played for various youth teams of the Barcelona Academy, until in 2011, when he was 17 years old, he turned out to be one of the key players in the double “blue-garnet”. Naturally, the football player attracted a lot of attention - in the next two seasons he played for the second team on an ongoing basis, scoring 27 goals in 67 matches. During all this time, the athlete was called up to the main team several times - he appeared on the field only in six meetings, and he was never in the starting lineup. This is not surprising, since in Barcelona there has always been incredible competition for a place at the base. Only the most talented managed to make their way straight to the foundation - and for this special conditions were still needed. Gerard Deulofeu did not have such conditions, so in 2013, at the age of 19, he went on loan to get gaming experience in another club.
Rent at Everton
Gerard Deulofeu, whose photographs began to appear in all Catalan sports magazines, was rated as a great talent by the attacking line. Therefore, the club management considered it unreasonable to keep him constantly on the bench or to force him to play for the second team, where the level of football is much lower.
Therefore, in 2013, the winger went on loan to the English Everton. There he quickly got a place in the first team and began to play often - for the whole season he spent 29 matches on the field, scoring 4 goals. By the time the rental was over, the hype around the young talent had subsided and many began to notice that Deulofeu was not as talented as he seemed. Everton somehow wanted to sign the player on an ongoing basis, but Barcelona refused, as it was not yet sure that Gerard Deulofeu was a football player who was worth letting go. Therefore, the club decided to send Gerard for another year for rent, but this time in his own championship, in Seville.
Rent in Seville
In the new club, the player was not as easy as in the previous one - Gerard Deulofeu, whose biography was just beginning, was under impressive pressure, because so far he did not live up to the expectations that were assigned to him.
In Seville, he was less likely to get into the starting lineup, as there was great competition. As a result, he played almost as many matches as in Everton - 28. Many of these matches were added to the general list due to the success of Sevilla in the European and local arenas. In the championship of Spain, Gerard played only 17 matches - against 25 in Everton. As a result, the Spanish club did not want to redeem the rights to the player, but Everton reiterated the desire. This time, “Barcelona agreed and released her pupil on an ongoing basis to England.
Going to Everton
As we see, it cannot be said that the brightest pupil of Barcelona in recent years is precisely Gerard Deulofeu.
The rating of young players leaving the academy of the Catalan club also contains more vivid names. But in “Everton” Gerard showed his best side, having more than fulfilled the six million euros that were spent in the summer of 2015 to sign the contract. Last season, the sportsman steadily entered the field and became one of the most important players in the squad - he has 33 games and four goals. O Gerard Deulofeu also started the new season as one of the main acting figures of Everton - at the beginning of September he already had two matches played.
The future of young talent
Now Gerard Deulofeu is 22 years old, that is, he is still considered a young and promising footballer. He has a contract with the club until 2018, which, with a sufficient number of appearances in the first team, can automatically last another one year. However, “Barcelona” has hedged, in case Gerard “shoots” in England - the club has the right to buy the player. This summer, the Catalans could redeem Deulofeu for nine million euros, but did not see much need for this. But the right to purchase will be valid for another year - next summer the winger can be purchased, but for 12 million euros. Moreover, the player will be able to stay for another year in a lease in an English club. But so far, as Gerard told reporters, he does not feel like returning to Spain and sees his future in Everton.
Team appearances
To date, Gerard Deulofeu has only one statement in the title for the main national team of Spain - in May 2014 he was called up for a friendly match against the national team of Bolivia, in which he came on as a substitute and spent only eleven minutes on the field.
He played for youth teams at all levels. Gerard Deulofeu is currently captain of the Spanish national team under 21 years old.