Tomorrow is the final day for Barcelona to use their Gerard Deulofeu clause.
If the Catalan club don’t, because Deulofeu knocks them back, then the Spain U21 captain will be all Everton’s, to do as they please with.
That opens up several opportunities. Everton can either sell him immediately and look to make the most money possible, with the possibility they could benefit if Spain win the Euro U21s on Friday, or Ronald Koeman can think again and keep him.
If it’s the latter then Everton need to consider the player’s physical state and what length of holiday he’ll need. In a rare non transfer Deulofeu article from the Catalan media, Sport say Deulofeu is exhausted, and after Spain’s latest U21 match was suffering from ‘generalised pain’.
2016/2017 has been a huge period for Deulofeu. A frustrating time at Everton was followed by his loan to AC Milan. That started off well, with Deulofeu hyped hugely and a permanent deal reported daily in the Italian media.
Then Milan had second thoughts and pushed the story out that Deulofeu wasn’t indispensible and wouldn’t be bought at an inflated price.
The 23 year old has also become a father for the first time, returned to the Spain side after a three year absence, and is now preparing for the U21 final as captain.
Should there be any chance of an Everton stay, Koeman may be best waving Deulofeu off an an extended holiday until late July or early August.
