Struggling for form and time on the pitch under Ronald Koeman at Everton, Gerard Deulofeu was sent on loan, after a lot of haggling, to AC Milan for the remainder of the season.
The Spaniard, once regarded as one of the better talents to come out of Barcelona’s famous La Masia academy, hadn’t had the best of starts with his new club, losing his first three games, but everything changed on Wednesday night.
The Everton loanee started the game against Bologna, but Milan saw two of their players get sent off, having to play 31 minutes with nine men.
Still 0-0 in the 89th minute, Milan looked like they would somehow walk away with a good point considering the circumstances, until Deulofeu picked up a long ball, turned one Bologna defender near the byline and somehow threaded a nice pass for Mario Pasalic to tap in.
With a surprise three points in the bag, AC Milan manager Vincenzo Montella was understandably delighted, but reserved special praise for the Everton man.
He said, relayed by Gazzetta dello Sport: “Deulofeu played an incredible game. He worried by himself the entirety of the Bologna defence.”
With a boost in his confidence, Deulofeu could very well end up recapturing the form that excited so many Everton fans when they secured his signature in 2015.
In fact, the Spaniard could end up playing up front as a false nine, something Montella admitted wanting to try out, having done so successfully when he was manager at Fiorentina.
