Gerard Deulofeu has struggled to get regular playing time at Barcelona and the forward is now edging closer towards the Camp Nou exit for the second time.
The 24-year-old arrived at the club when he was nine, and according to the Spanish publication El Confidencial, Deulofeu and the World Cup winner with Spain will leave the Catalan club after the end of this campaign.
Having come up through Barcelona’s academy, the forward was provided an opportunity in the first team by current Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola in 2011. However, he has failed to cement a place, which saw the Spanish giants allow him to go out on loan to Everton and Sevilla.
Deulofeu left Barcelona for the first time in 2015 when he made a permanent switch to Everton. He failed to hold on to a place in the starting XI, which saw him spend the second half of the 2016/17 season on loan at AC Milan.
Josep Maria Bartomeu re-signed the attacker from Everton last summer on a three-year deal. He made only 10 appearances in the La Liga this season, which included only five starts. Ernesto Valverde did not prefer using the Spain international regularly for the Catalan club.
Barcelona allowed Deulofeu join Watford on loan in the January transfer window. He struggled to feature regularly for the Hornets as he suffered a stress fracture on his foot in February, which forced him to spend on the sidelines.
He has still one year left on his current deal at Camp Nou, but the Spaniard has insisted that he has no plans of returning to his parent club.
“I do not think I’ll return to Barca. They gave me up and I wanted to go on loan. It’s clear that I don’t think I’ll come back,” Deulofeu told Cadena Ser.
“The coach wants me to stay. I have to see, go slowly and analyse it well. We will see with my agent what happens. At the moment we are calm.”
Sport earlier suggested there is a possibility that Deulofeu could extend his loan deal at Watford until the end of the next season. Should this happen, he will be a free agent in the summer of 2019.
El Confidencial claims Deulofeu now wants a new life that can help him forget what has happened at Barcelona. In addition to this, he also wants a new club where he feels he is not being ignored. The Spaniard is now set for a “most bitter exit” from Barcelona.
