Gerard Deulofeu to leave Barcelona for Everton after 12 years with the club
He arrived as a nine-year-old at Barcelona's academy and, 12 years and two loan spells later, Gerard Deulofeu will break off his links with the club. His destination is England, where he will return to the team he played for in 2013-14: Everton. At Goodison Park, he will play under Catalan coach Roberto Martinez.
Barça haven't put up a fight during talks with the Premier League club because Luis Enrique's contract renewal closed the doors on Deulofeu's chances of breaking into the first team. The Asturian coach decided not to count on him at the beginning of the season, sending him to Sevilla, and there was no chance of him playing during the next campaign. So the club listened to the demands of Deulofeu, who did not want to go on loan again, preferring to break off links with the club to give himself a chance to explode.
Everton will pay six million euros for the forward from Riudarenes, giving him a contract until 2018 with the option of an extra year. His Barça contract was due to expire in 2017. Despite all this, though, there is a chance that Barça will bring him back in the future. The club say there will be an option to bring him back for a certain fee during his first two seasons with Everton.
Therefore, if Barça feel he has improved by the end of the 2015-16 season, they will be able to sign him for nine million euros. If at the end of the 2016-17 season they want to sign him, it will cost them 12 million euros.
