Gerard Deulofeu

Barcelona

Born in Riudarenes, Girona, Catalonia, Deulofeu joined Barcelona's youth academy in 2003 at the age of nine. In 2005, he was promoted to the U-13 team. On 2 March 2011, still registered with the junior team, he made his senior debut, appearing for the B team in a 4–1 away win against Córdoba in Segunda División by coming on as a substitute for Edu Oriol in the 75th minute. In late April 2011, Deulofeu was called up to the senior squad for the first time, for a La Liga match against Real Sociedad on 29 April, but did not leave the bench in a 2–1 away loss. On 29 October, he made his professional debut with the main squad, replacing Cesc Fàbregas in the 63rd minute of a 5–0 league home success against Mallorca. On 16 September 2012, Deulofeu scored his first goal for the B team, in a 2–1 away loss at Hércules. Deulofeu scored 18 goals for the B team in the 2012–13 season, joint-fourth in the second level competition. On 15 May 2013, he signed a professional contract with the Blaugrana first team, running until June 2017.

Everton (loan)

On 10 July 2013, Premier League club Everton signed Deulofeu on a season-long loan. The Liverpool Echo also reported that any loan fee would be waived if he made appearances in more than 50% of his new club's games. He scored on his debut for his new club, a 2–1 home win over Stevenage in the second round of the League Cup on 29 August. On 30 November, Deulofeu scored his first league goal for the Toffees, netting…

Deulofeu played for the Spain under-17 team from 2009 to 2011, helping them finish runner-up at the 2010 UEFA European Under-17 Championship. In the latter year he was selected to the under-19s, winning two consecutive European Championships and being selected best player in the 2012 edition. Deulofeu was selected for the senior side for the first time on 30 May 2014, as part of a 19-man squad to play a friendly against Bolivia, being given the number 7. He played the last ten minutes of the 2–0 win in Seville as a substitute for Pedro, but the following day he was not included in the squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. On 12 November 2015, Deulofeu scored a hat-trick and captained the under-21 team in a 5–0 win over Georgia in Almería, for 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification. Winning his second senior Spain cap, Deulofeu scored his first goal for Spain against France in a friendly on 28 March 2017, after coming off the bench. While the goal was initially ruled offside, it was overturned by the video assistant referee. Deulofeu made two further appearances for Spain as a substitute in 2017, in a 2–2 friendly draw against Colombia and an 8–0 victory over Liechtenstein in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification: the latter match marked Deulofeu's competitive international debut as well as his latest cap for Spain.

Deulofeu has gained a reputation as a quick and skillful player. His most notable strengths include pace, technique and dribbling ability. Deulofeu is capable of playing as a winger or as a forward on either flank. He is also capable of playing in a central role, seemingly operating as a lone striker, but acting instead as a false-9; he has even been deployed as an out-and-out striker on occasion, or more frequently as a second striker, due to his tendency to beat opponents in one on one situations and create chances for teammates, in addition to scoring goals himself. Despite citing Ronaldinho as his main inspiration, Deulofeu's style of play is comparable to that of Cristiano Ronaldo, due to a shared direct approach. Regarded as a promising young player, in 2012, he was included by Don Balón in their list of the 101 most exciting prospects born after 1991, while in January 2014, he was named by The Observer as one of the ten most promising young players in Europe. Looking back in 2018, NBC Sports' Daniel Karell said of Deulofeu: "In his younger days, the [then] 24-year-old winger was a dynamic and lightning-quick attacker with a central midfielder's technique to boot".

Club

As of match played 22 January 2023

International

As of match played 5 September 2017

As of match played 5 September 2017 Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first