Gerard Deulofeu has managed a total of 368 minutes for Everton so far this season, which would suggest he’s not a major part of Ronald Koeman’s first team plans.
Starting on the bench again against Manchester United on Sunday, it doesn’t take a great leap to believe the 22 year old will be frustrated. He was impatient at Barcelona, and then annoyed for a season at Sevilla, and Deulofeu will believe he’s absolutely good enough to start every match.
A report from The Sun claiming Koeman is looking to offload Deulofeu in January has of course made its way to Spain. Catalan newspaper Sport say that it’s an ‘extreme situation’ for the young footballer.
Sport outline how Deulofeu was now meant to be a star, but his career has been slipping for some years. The Sevilla move was disastrous and not being prominent at Everton shows that Deulofeu is a long way from becoming the world class player the Catalan media suggested he could be.
That early praise went straight to Deulofeu’s head and ended up with Luis Enrique sending him to Sevilla in the first place, when Deulofeu had arrived back from Everton expecting to be part of Barcelona’s first team squad.
Of course, The Sun are likely over hyping the situation, but there’s no getting away from the fact that Deulofeu has only started three Premier League games so far this season, and has no goals or assists to his name.
