Former Everton midfielder Gerard Deulofeu has not held back in his evaluation of Barcelona’s decision to appoint Ronald Koeman as their new manager.
Deulofeu joined Everton from Barcelona on a permanent deal in 2015, having enjoyed a loan spell at Goodison Park in 2013/14, but the Spaniard cannot recall any happy memories of playing under Koeman, who arrived in 2016.
Koeman replaced Quique Setien at Barca this week amid a club-wide overhaul after the La Liga side’s 8-2 Champions League demolition by Bayern Munich, but Deulofeu does not believe the Dutchman will change their fortunes.
“I can tell you about Koeman from my personal experience,” Deulofeu told Cataluna Radio.
“He provided me absolutely nothing. I wasn’t happy, I asked to leave and I went to Milan [on loan].
‘We’ll see how he does at the Camp Nou.”
Deulofeu’s game time at Goodison dropped substantially after Koeman was appointed. The player then returned to Barca – where he was a product of the club’s La Masia academy – in the summer of 2017. The 26-year-old now represents Watford.
“The truth is that Barcelona’s [situation] does not bother me,” Deulofeu added. “In fact, right now, I don’t care.
“At Barcelona, they have not had patience with La Masia for years. If you give [the youngsters] time, they learn the style of the first team.
“There are players, many of us have come from there, but not patience. Now there will be changes, but they are years behind.”
