Watford want £15 million for Gerard Deulofeu, with his price-tag and £85,000-a-week wages making a move to Crystal Palace difficult, according to the Sun (9 August, page 60).
As Roberto Martinez himself said when the Spanish schemer was lighting up the Premier League with Everton, this wing wizard is capable of producing a little bit of ‘magic’ with a swish and flick of his right boot.
Deulofeu famously fired Watford into the FA Cup final last year with a one-man masterclass against Wolves, two months after becoming the first Hornets player to score a top-flight hat-trick since 1984 during a 5-1 thrashing of Cardiff City.
It is no coincidence that Watford’s five-season spell in the Premier League came to an end while Deulofeu was stuck on the treatment table.
The former Barcelona winger suffered a cruciate ligament injury during that 3-0 thrashing of Liverpool in March and was powerless to prevent his club from sleepwalking into the mire.
The Sun claims that Crystal Palace would be tempted to offer Deulofeu a fresh start, perhaps identifying him as the man capable of making life after Wilfried Zaha a little easier.
The Standard also mentioned Deulofeu as a target last week.
But his £85,000-a-week wages, not to mention £15 million price-tag, means his suitors may be forced to look at alternative options.
For all those moments of ‘magic’, Deulofeu has never managed to master the most important weapon in a footballer’s armoury – consistency.
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