Everton’s second maneuver in this summer’s transfer market finds a familiar face returning to Goodison Park, with Barcelona winger Gerard Deulofeu penning a three-year deal. The 21-year-old La Masia graduate reportedly turned down more lucrative offers to team up with Toffees boss Roberto Martinez once again, after spending the 2013/14 Premier League campaign on loan at Goodison Park.
Speaking to the club’s official site, Martinez confirmed that Everton have already acquired their two main targets – having earlier snapped up Tom Cleverley from Manchester United – before talking up the winger’s talents for the season ahead:
“It was always our intention to work extremely hard behind the scenes to get some really good business done early on during the transfer window. Our objective was to secure Tom and Gerard as quickly as we could and I’m really pleased this is exactly what we’ve done. We are getting an even more mature player now than he was a couple of seasons ago and a player who considers Everton as home. This is why we are incredibly excited to have him back here on a permanent basis and to encourage him to grow, develop and mature his enormous talent.”
The History
Born in Riudarenes (a Catalonian community), Deulofeu enrolled in Barcelona’s youth academy at just nine years old. Following eight years of training, the fleet-footed wide man earned his senior debut for the Barcelona B team in March 2011, before being called up to the full squad a month later.
Deulofeu made his first league outing for the full side in October 2011, coming on for Cesc Fabregas in a 5-0 drubbing of Mallorca. Aside from being afforded one further appearance in the 2012/13 campaign, the Spain international plied his trade with the second team, netting 18 times in the Segunda Division – boosting his tally to 27 goals and six assists in 68 appearances.
The next stop in Deulofeu’s development would be a season-long loan deal to Everton. He got off to the perfect start on Merseyside, scoring in a 2-1 home victory over Stevenage in the League Cup, though his first league strike took a little longer to materialise, arriving in a 4-0 win over Stoke City in late November. Although a hamstring injury in December sidelined him for five weeks, Deulofeu still managed to record three goals and four assists in just 900 minutes pitch time (spread out over 25 league outings) during his stay.
Deulofeu was granted a first-team berth at Barcelona in the following pre-season, ruling out a second loan spell at Everton. However, Barca boss Luis Enrique experienced a change in heart and accepted a one-year loan proposal from fellow La Liga outfit Sevilla. Deulofeu failed to nail down a starting berth with Los Rojiblancos and was subsequently named in Marca’s Worst Team of the Season, despite still managing to record one goal and six assists in 17 league outings. Indeed, Deulofeu served up nine assists across all competitions for Sevilla last season – no team-mate managed more.
Deulofeu has been a regular starter for Spain at every level of the youth system yet has only earned a single cap for the senior outfit. He was named as the Golden Player of the U19 Euros, having bagged two goals en route to the trophy.
The Prospects
It’s something of an understatement to suggest that competition for places is strong on the flanks for Everton. Whether Martinez chooses to roll out a 4-1-4-1, 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 set-up, he has the likes of Leon Osman, Aiden McGeady, Kevin Mirallas, Steven Pienaar, Ross Barkley and Steven Naismith all offering options out wide. With reports also suggesting that Martinez could return to Tottenham to snap up Aaron Lennon on a permanent deal, there’s a great deal of uncertainty over his preferred starting XI ahead of the new campaign.
Although Deulofeu’s inability to earn regular starts at Sevilla would appear to run contrary to Martinez’s assertions, he did, regardless, post some impressive statistics. No Everton midfielder accrued more than three assists last term, yet the Spaniard notched six in just 780 La Liga minutes. Furthermore, he fashioned a chance for his team-mates on average every 55.7 minutes, which far outstrips any of the mainstays in the Toffees’ midfield, and could boost Romelu Lukaku’s points potential as the lone striker.
Given that – aside from Mirallas – no Everton midfielder scored more than two league goals last season, it’s obvious why Martinez is looking for new faces in this area. The fact that Deulofeu has already played under Martinez should render any settling-in period redundant and afford the new boy the chance to hit the ground running, though his classification may ultimately determine how we view his prospects. The Spaniard was listed as a forward in Fantasy Premier League last time around and a similar scenario would ensure that he remains off our radars, given that he’ll be utilised out wide by Martinez.
Although a relatively kind price is anticipated – around 5.5 to 6.5 – in order to arrive on our radars, Deulofeu needs to be listed as a midfielder and nail down a regular role for the Merseysiders.
Certainly, the opening schedule will allow us time to assess the lay of the land. After a kind opening home clash with Watford, Martinez’ men face all of last season’s top eight in addition to a trip to West Brom over the following nine matches, suggesting that most Fantasy managers will be more than willing to hold fire on Everton coverage until the fixtures smile kindly from Gameweek 11 onwards.
