Barcelona are looking to exercise their £10.5 million buy-back clause for Everton winger Gerard Deulofeu.
According to Chris Bascombe of the Daily Telegraph, Spanish giants Barcelona are looking to re-sign Gerard Deulofeu and are looking to exercise the buy-back clause they inserted in the player’s contract, by making an offer in the region of £10.5 million for him.
The 23-year-old left the Camp Nou for pastures new in 2013 as he joined Everton on loan with a bid to clock regular minutes on the field of play. He became a regular under manager Roberto Martinez, and went on to become one of the Toffees’ key attacking players.
However, he has failed to convince current manager Ronald Koeman about his abilities, and the Dutchman does not envisage the La Masia graduate as a first-team regular at Goodison Park for the foreseeable future.
Deulofeu spent the second spell of this past season on loan at AC Milan, where he put in a string of impressive performances, and done enough to merit a spot in Koeman’s plans at the Merseyside outfit.
In 17 league appearances for the San Siro outfit, he grabbed four goals and provided another three assists. In fact, prior to Koeman’s arrival at Goodison Park, he registered an impressive 13 league assists and added four goals to the tally, to make it a superb campaign for him.
That being said, Koeman’s mind is unlikely to change, and he will be looking to ship the right winger off in the summer, and Barcelona will welcome the player with open arms, and are willing to match his buy-back clause.
The Catalan outfit announced last month that Ernesto Valverde will take charge of the first team for the upcoming season, and the former Athletic Bilbao boss is looking to make a fresh start in his first campaign as Barcelona manager, and has identified Deulofeu as a target.
Valverde is understood to be impressed by the player’s progress at Milan, and was also taken aback by the number of assists he registered in the 2015/16 English domestic season for Everton.
While Deulofeu is not quite ready to break into the starting eleven, he can provide adequate cover for Lionel Messi and Neymar, as he is comfortable playing on either flanks, as well as a full-back.
Interestingly, Gianluca Di Marzio writer David Amoyal has stated that Barcelona could sign the player by matching his buy-black clause, and sell him for a higher value, as they believe there is sufficient interest in the market for his services.
Thus, the next few weeks will be key in deciding what the future holds for the promising Spanish winger.
