Season › 2014-15 › News Deulofeu needs to impress at Everton , 21 June, 40comments | Jump to most recent A frank assessment of the young Spaniard from Adam West "He needs to start showing an attitude that heÂ’s willing to apply himself or else heÂ’s in danger of becoming another of those great talents who never fulfilled their potential." With sources reporting that Gerard Deulofeu will sign for Everton next week, the Liverpool Echo carries a frank assessment by the BBC's Adam West of a player who was regarded as an emerging star of the new generation of Spanish talent. BBC Sport's Barcelona-based football writer, Andy West, says of “The feeling here in Barcelona is one of great disappointment that Deulofeu hasn't developed how they'd have hoped. They expected him to be an important squad player by now but with Lionel Messi finding a new position for himself on the right wing, he's stuck. “Maybe it will be good for him to be back with a manager who has confidence in him — not that a lack of confidence is the issue — but he'll be returning to an environment where he's enjoyed success. “I don't think it's too strong to say that this could be his last chance. Everton are a good club and it's a good stage for him but no disrespect to Everton he should be doing the business at a team who are in the Champions League and he needs to start showing an attitude that he's willing to apply himself or else he's in danger of becoming another of those great talents who never fulfilled their potential. Article continues below video content “There have always been huge expectations over Gerard Deulofeu since he was in his mid teens. The Spanish football public have known about him as being their supposed next big star for a long time. “He had a really good year with Barcelona's B team before he came to the Premier League for the first time so after enjoying a promising season on loan at Everton, Barça made a big thing about him coming back and he was paraded around the Camp Nou along with Rafinha, who'd been on loan at Celta Vigo, like they were new signings. “Ultimately it was Luis Enrique's call and he didn't want Deulofeu. It just didn't happen for him at Sevilla. He started off playing regularly but by the end of the season he wasn't even in the squad. “He just didn't do as well as others did at Sevilla. Aleix Vidal played better on the wing and has ironically signed for Barcelona while they got more out of Jose Antonio Reyes than they were expecting. Unlike at Goodison where Roberto Martinez took his fellow Catalan under his wing, part of Deulofeu's problem at Sevilla seemed to be a breakdown in communications with his coach. West said: “There's no doubting that Deulofeu underperformed last season. He's very confident and has a lot of belief in his own ability but the coach Unai Emery saw attitude problems. “The tensions between the two surfaced when Deulofeu was left out of the squad for the Europa League tie against Zenit and Tweeted: “What doesn't kill you makes you stronger! Onwards!” “After Sevilla had won the game without Deulofeu, Emery took to Twitter to remark: “You can have the stuff of champions, but it needs to be shaped with effort, hard work and humility. Forza SFC!” “Basically he was telling Deulofeu that you can have all the talent in the world but you need to display work and commitment to be a successful footballer.” Quotes sourced from Liverpool Echo Reader Comments (40) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer Colin Glassar 1 Posted 21/06/2015 at 15:43:02 There are already two threads about Delofeu on here. Maybe Adam should stick to playing with Robin. Mike Gaynes 2 Posted 21/06/2015 at 16:01:18 Hey Colin... a guy who shagged Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt deserves a little more respect. James Stewart 3 Posted 21/06/2015 at 16:02:24 Barcelona spent nearly 150m on Suarez and Neymar you canÂ’t really blame the kid for seeking a move no one in world football would displace their front 3. Michael Kenrick 4 Posted 21/06/2015 at 15:59:58 Ah... clever, Colin. I see what you did there!Yes, we do have a number of GD threads, but this could well be our biggest story for June! I thought his direct and "no punches pulled" assessment sounded pretty much on the ball, but the Echo (no doubt in the interests of Â’balanceÂ’ also carry this article that features comments from Sid Lowe that are perhaps more inclined to your positive disposition:Gerard Deulofeu can be the player of his generationLowe said: "It’s curious really. Nobody really sees Deulofeu as a trouble-maker or suggests that he loves himself. He’s not overly arrogant considering his ability but he does things his way, on his terms."There’s a sense that he understands the game his way, which comes very naturally to him, but he still has a lot to learn in regards to competitive, collective football."Deulofeu is viewed here as having the potential to be genuinely brilliant but he still seems to lack football maturity."Actually, theyÂ’re both really saying pretty much the same things... Sorry if it upsets you, Colin. It is the Echo, after all. Kev Thomas 5 Posted 21/06/2015 at 16:30:12 Chances of the Red Echo doing a story thatÂ’s less than complimentary about Origi? Not holding my breath. Colin Glassar 6 Posted 21/06/2015 at 17:07:02 I couldnÂ’t resist, Michael. Yes, itÂ’s a good piece – let’s just hope the lad fulfills his potential with us. Drew Shortis 7 Posted 21/06/2015 at 17:07:13 Gerard has confidence in his own abilities but will only shine when he is given the trust of his manager. That is why Everton are such a great fit for him. He is desperate to be first choice and we are desperate for a player who can change a game with a moment of magic. At Barcelona he would only be a bit part player, not because of a lack of talent, but because of the phenomenal quality of the likes of Messi, Suarez and Neymar. Unfortunately we wonÂ’t have three such superstars blocking his progression. I see him being a massive success at Everton and I also see a day when he will return to Barcelona to take his place as one of the greats. If we can get two or three years of his best football for very little outlay, then we will have bagged ourselves a real bargain.Sure, we may not hold on to him in the long run if he fulfils his potential, but he may be the spark we need to propel us into a better position so that, when he returns home, we are able to replace him with and attract other young talent who will help us compensate for our lack of financial resources. I hope that, when we look back at the Martinez era, his capture will be seen as the stroke of genius that finally pushed us back into the big time. Colin Gee 8 Posted 21/06/2015 at 17:53:06 Liked the look of this lad the other year when he was on loan, yes he might frustrate at sometimes, but heÂ’s definitely better than McGeady. Who frustrates all of the time!Plus he has a boss song." HeÂ’s magic, you knooooooow, Gerard Deulofeu" Peter Fearon 9 Posted 21/06/2015 at 18:06:07 He only has to have one or two good matches with us for all of the pundits currently criticizing him to start saying, "HeÂ’s got so much potential he should be playing for Manchester Utd or Chelsea." It was an ongoing chorus about Ross Barkley until he had a poor run of form last season. Now you hear it about John Stones. ItÂ’s as if all the good players need to be warehoused at the top four or five clubs and we are not supposed to recruit and develop decent players. Ask Jack Rodwell how that move to Man City went for him. He was warehoused and his career was set back. Instead of going to Brazil for England, he was picking splinters out of his bum and watching on TV. Jim Lloyd 10 Posted 21/06/2015 at 18:13:20 What a fantastic signing, if we get him for 3 years or so. ItÂ’s a gamble, of course but well worth it. The lad is not, by any means, the finished article and neither is Ross. But I think that working with Roberto, they might both develop into top, top class players. TheyÂ’ve got the talent.ItÂ’d be nice to see Alex come down and offer them both some coaching. If they could develop anything like the understanding Roy Vernon and himself had, weÂ’d be in for a treat of our lives.We still need a Maestro in the team, to do the orchestrating (sounds like last night at the proms!) and if we get him, I think weÂ’ll not be far away from the top six but equally importantly, weÂ’ll get back to playing some of the football we saw the season before last. Aidy Dews 11 Posted 21/06/2015 at 18:34:37 The very last sentence rings true, he can have all the talent in the world but if he doesnÂ’t muck in and work as well then itÂ’s pointless.But he as time on his side to mature in terms of that side of his game. I donÂ’t think he will ever be a work horse of a winger that plays like a wing back and gets up and down the touch line all game.But if we can get him to do his bit and help back when needed, but keep him in the areas where he can do damage more, then I think weÂ’ll all be more than happy at that!With his pace and the way he could beat men and glide past em at ease, open things up and have us on the front foot, is something we seriously lacked last season when games were tight and teams sat deep and made things difficult for us!IÂ’m one of those that will be delighted when he signs as heÂ’s a quality player and will get better. I actually think his style suits the pace of the Premier League as apposed to La liga and weÂ’ll get better out of him! Dave Abrahams 12 Posted 21/06/2015 at 19:27:09 Anyone would think Gerard is 24 or 25... he is still only 20, he has plenty of time to make the talent and potential he so obviously possesses into a top class player, time will tell, it is really up to him. Hopefully he will continue to improve and the more he is used the quicker and better he will become, good luck lad. Jamie Barlow 13 Posted 21/06/2015 at 19:48:32 Could be describing our Ross too If he doesnÂ’t start putting in the hard work on the pitch. Peter Laing 14 Posted 21/06/2015 at 19:52:07 Fantastic signing, we need young guns with something to prove and Gerard will be joining a team of rising stars in the shape of Stones, Garbutt, McCarthy, Barkley, McCarthy, Galloway and Lukaku. Coupled with a core of experienced players Everton could be on the cusp of a bright generation. Colin Glassar 15 Posted 21/06/2015 at 20:01:14 Gerard and Emery didnÂ’t hit it off from the start. Emery is an old-fashioned task master in the style of Fergie and LVG, in that he takes no prisoners and the lad probably suffered as a consequence. Nick Armitage 16 Posted 21/06/2015 at 20:00:06 Imagine trying to defend against Del Boy and Coleman if they were both in the mood. They could potentially tear any team apart, but potentially any team could tear us apart.This could go one of two ways but heÂ’s the type of signing I want to see. We certainly have some very gifted young players now. If they click and if they are managed well, we can be a match for anyone. Big if though. Nicholas Ryan 17 Posted 21/06/2015 at 20:53:19 If we get a couple of great seasons out of him, and he then goes back to Barca and becomes the new Messi.... thatÂ’s fine by me! Chad Schofield 18 Posted 21/06/2015 at 21:03:40 I agree with Dave Abrahams. Sensationalist rubbish really – and although I really hope we do sign him, we havenÂ’t yet. Simon Jackson 19 Posted 21/06/2015 at 21:10:13 I think we should play hard ball with Gerard, if we put the hard work in and make him into a star, why should Barça take the benefits? They either want him or they donÂ’t!!! John Raftery 20 Posted 21/06/2015 at 22:35:04 This will be a good signing once completed. When Gerard arrived two years ago we were told he was a future Barcelona star farmed out to us to gain experience. Now he has something to prove and we should benefit from that. Brian Sephton 21 Posted 22/06/2015 at 04:46:28 Simon. The point is, they do want him, full stop. It is the lad himself who wants the move and they have put a clause in so they can have him when he comes good. They have never said that they want to sell him. I would like him to play further inside just behind Rom, as I think he would do a lot more damage when he goes on a selfish run – he will lose the ball nearer the goal. Steven Jones 22 Posted 22/06/2015 at 05:15:12 Peter 14You can add Besic to that and to some extent Tom – who I guarantee will surprise a lot of people on here. Have a look at his goal in practice for England last week. Brian Furey 23 Posted 22/06/2015 at 08:53:38 It really looks like Roberto is building a good young team with loads of potential. In 2 years time we could have:RoblesColemanStonesGallowayGarbuttBesicMcCarthyCleverlyDeulofeuBarkleyLukakuNot a bad outfit. Peter Morris 24 Posted 22/06/2015 at 10:02:45 I think there will be a relationship to repair with Seamus if he does sign. Seamus was frustrated to hell by playing alongside him – bombing up and down the touchline but NEVER receiving the ball. I hope Gerard has learned that this is a team game, not a one-man game, and starts to involve his colleagues a lot more to exploit the space he will open up for us. The real strengths of players like Messi and Suarez is that they couple their individual talent with working their socks off for the team, so their less-able colleagues respect them so much more. Victor Yu 25 Posted 22/06/2015 at 10:32:14 CR7 was the same way when he was 19 too. He would dribble and dribble and ignore the runs made by forwards and full backs. Given the right coaching, I believe it can be solved (it also comes with maturity too). Tony J Williams 26 Posted 22/06/2015 at 13:14:38 Let’s just hope that grass is not too sticky for him.... Ross Edwards 27 Posted 22/06/2015 at 14:29:27 Deulofeu’s girlfriend is in Liverpool... https://twitter.com/vilchesmaye/status/612971328153456640The location at the bottom... It’s on... Steve King 28 Posted 22/06/2015 at 14:41:38 DeulofeuÂ’s Mrs has just caused a meltdown amongst Everton fans on Twitter. She posted a video of her holidays in Formentera but the location tag was... Liverpool, England. Brian Wilkinson 29 Posted 22/06/2015 at 14:54:22 "Gerard returns to Merseyside" headline – give the redshites a stiffy... till they read it’s not Stevie Me. Dave Pritchard 30 Posted 22/06/2015 at 15:35:46 Brian,23, I agree that your young team looks good for the future but trying to foresee 2 years ahead in the crazy world of Premier League football is difficult to say the least. Dominic Tonge 31 Posted 22/06/2015 at 15:40:25 CR7???? Please if we are referring to footballers, let’s use either names (or insults) not a self constructed sports brand type tag line. That made a little bit of sick pop up into my mouth Phil Bellis 32 Posted 22/06/2015 at 16:10:07 Well said, Dominic.It still slows me down trying to decipher stuff like ADM, RSD, DLF and other assorted yoofimisms. Bobby Thomas 33 Posted 22/06/2015 at 16:39:21 Dominic #31PMSL! Joe Foster 34 Posted 22/06/2015 at 17:02:43 FFS VY Steve Cotton 35 Posted 23/06/2015 at 20:46:03 Now if we can sell Mirallas and get in Bolasie to play on the left then we will have some attack.Van Dijk at the back and we will just need Cabaye for the no 10 position... Colin Glassar 36 Posted 23/06/2015 at 21:23:40 CR7 reminded me a bit of RD-D2 when he started with a bit of C-P30 thrown in. As an ALM he was good but came into his own as an ARM under SAF. RM will get the best out of DelBoy but we will still need that CCMF player to bring out the best of our new 3-5-2 formation. Colin Glassar 37 Posted 23/06/2015 at 21:33:00 R2-D2. Totally ballsed that one up with this stupid auto correct. Seamus McCrudden 38 Posted 23/06/2015 at 22:03:58 Colin, you forgot CP30... Andrew Clare 41 Posted 25/06/2015 at 14:24:28 Good news. Now sign Angelo Ogbonna, and a proper number 10.Also I would like to see Lennon signed and a top class keeper ( every top team has a top goalkeeper).It’s no mistake that when we have fared well we have had a great keeper. West and Southall spring to mind although there have been other greats. Patrick Murphy 42 Posted 25/06/2015 at 14:35:59 I hope that GD doesn't turn out to be our only Marquee signing of the summer, we need to invest properly this term just to keep in touch with the other clubs that we aspire to compete with. I would really love us to buy that Shaqiri bloke but he is probably out of our price range he is reported to be already unhappy at the San Siro. So that's Tom and Geri already in the bag, who we buy next I haven't a Scooby-Doo, but if it all helps the team to score goals and gain points we will all be very happy. 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