Following Gerard Deulofeu’s first spell at Everton, he returned to Barcelona expected, and expecting, to be a used member of the first team squad. The Merseyside stay was seen as a successful one which would be the springboard for the Barcelona career he’d been expected to have for some time.
However, things went wrong immediately. Manager Luis Enrique wasn’t impressed with Deulofeu’s attitude, feeling he wasn’t working hard enough, and there was something of the star about the youngster.
Enrique was so unconvinced, that he didn’t want Deulofeu to be part of his squad and the player was loaned off to Sevilla. That move didn’t go as well as planned either, although it wasn’t a total disaster.
Whilst at Sevilla, Deulofeu met Aleix Vidal, who would then go on to join Barcelona. Aleix Vidal hasn’t had a great time at the Catalan club and is mainly surplus to requirements, but does provide some cover for injuries. Barcelona would be looking to the winter window to evaluate the situation, and are not set against a sale.
It doesn’t seem controversial, but Mundo Deportivo believe it is. The Catalan newspaper say they’ve been informed the ‘snapshot does not sit too well in some areas of the club, who interpreted it as a clear challenge to Luis Enrique.’
The reasoning is that Deulofeu left Barcelona ‘by the back door’, after annoying Enrique, who more than once questioned the effort the now Everton player put into defending.
Mundo Deportivo say ‘to make matters worse’, the image was taken before Barcelona’s match against Celta Vigo, with Vidal out of the squad. However, the squad was only announced the morning after the meal, leading Mundo Deportivo to assume that Aleix Vidal assumed he wouldn’t be in Enrique’s selection so may as well go out.
The Barcelona defender added the caption ‘Everything in order’, which it’s claimed has managed to create controversy.
It’s all very soap opera.
