Watford loanee Gerard Deulofeu admits he doesn’t think he’ll return to Barcelona at the end of the season.
Gerard Deulofeu has hinted he could make his loan stay at Watford permanent.
The Barcelona midfielder, who has been at Vicarage Road since January, has admitted he does not believe he will return to the La Liga champions at the end of the season.
“I do not think I will return to Barca,” the 24-year-old told Spanish newspaper, Mundo Deportivo.
“They gave me up and I wanted to go on loan. It’s clear that I do not think I’ll come back.”
The former Everton winger also says Watford boss Javi Gracia wants to keep him beyond the end of the current campaign and that discussions over a possible permanent deal could begin soon.
“The coach wants me to stay. I have to see, go slowly and analyze it well. We will see with my agent what happens. We are in quiet moments,” Deulofeu said.
Deulofeu’s parent club have been busy toasting their latest league title in recent days – but the Spaniard declined to join in the celebrations after discovering his name was missing off Barca’s commemorative shirt.
The winger made 10 league appearances for Barca before his winter return to England, and he took to Twitter to question his omission, saying: “Champions of the league. It’s mine too, no?”
Something that will have almost certainly rubbed salt in the wounds for Deulofeu is that fellow midfielder Rafinha, who was also loaned out in January, was included on the shirt – despite not making a single La Liga appearance for Ernesto Valverde’s men this season.
Barcelona rectified the situation by re-printing the shirts to include Deulofeu’s name, but the saga can’t have helped the Spaniard’s chances of staying at the club.
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