Everton brought the Spaniard to the club on a permanent deal in the summer of 2015.
Gerard Deulofeu
Everton loanee Gerard Deulofeu sat down for an exclusive interview with Italian sports magazine Forza Milan, and shared how comparisons made between himself and Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi when he was younger had a detrimental effect on his career.
The 23-year-old is currently with Serie A giants AC Milan, after leaving Goodison Park in January on loan until the end of the season.
He hasn’t exactly set the world alight during his time in Italy, much like his spell on Merseyside, but his career started off at Barcelona under the weight of huge expectations, after being compared to Messi, with many pundits suggesting that he was destined for greatness.
He has obviously not gone on to live up to what was expected of him, and cannot even be discussed in the same breath as the Argentine legend.
And Deulofeu spoke to Forza Milan about how his development could have potentially been hampered by those ludicrous early comparisons with Messi:
Gerard Deulofeu
“In the end, the comparisons were more detrimental than beneficial. Normally I don’t read newspapers, but that headline I remember well. It created too much expectation among Barcelona fans. There’s only one Messi.”
Whether the Spaniard has a future at Goodison Park remains to be seen, but one thing that is most definitely still in his favour is his age, and at 23, he has plenty of years ahead of him in which to prove his true worth.
Gerard Deulofeu in action
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