Everton

Everton: Former star Gerard Deulofeu is on fire this season

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Image for Everton: Former star Gerard Deulofeu is on fire this season

Those at Everton may well be wishing former player Gerard Deulofeu was still at their club as he has truly been on fire this season. 

Over the span of his career, the Spaniard spent multiple spells with the Toffees and contributed well during his time with the club, scoring eight goals and delivering an impressive 19 assists in 75 appearances.

But having left for a second time in the summer of 2017, it seems as though Deulofeu has gone on to establish himself as one of the finest talents in Serie A with his current club, Udinese.

TIF has decided to take a look and investigate why Everton may well be hoping they still had the player on their books.

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In 58 games for Udinese, Deulofeu has proven to be a consistent threat, netting 16 goals and providing 13 assists. This term, however, he has truly caught the eye.

Indeed, according to WhoScored, he has delivered an average match rating of 7.46 across seven matches, meaning he is ranked as the 40th-best performing footballer in Europe’s top five leagues – four places higher than England star Jude Bellingham, who will reportedly cost teams £131.6m if they want to prise him away from Borussia Dortmund any time soon.

Not only that, but across Europe’s top five leagues, his five assists are only bettered by Lionel Messi (seven), Neymar (seven), and Kevin De Bruyne (six).

Deulofeu delivered perhaps his finest display in Udinese’s impressive 3-1 win over Inter recently. Indeed, according to SofaScore, he was worthy of an 8.3 match rating as he picked up two assists, hit the woodwork once, made a stunning six key passes and created one big chance.

If you compare him (using stats via FBref) with one of Everton’s current stars in the £60m-rated Anthony Gordon, it’s safe to say the Toffees could still do with the Spaniard amongst their ranks.

Would you take Gerard Deulofeu back at Everton?

Yes

Yes

No

No

Gordon has scored twice this season, and while Deulofeu has yet to hit the back of the net, he does have five assists compared to the Englishman’s zero, so he has directly contributed to three more goals. The Serie A star also has much higher personal totals for expected goals (2.1 compared to 1.7) and expected assists (2.6 compared to 0.4).

With each player playing seven league games this term, Deulofeu takes more shots, completes more passes (with a higher accuracy), delivers more shot-creating actions per match, while he has yet to be booked this term. Gordon has four yellow cards – though he does attempt and complete more tackles.

All in all, it’s easy to see just how much quality Deulofeu is currently bringing to his team. Seeing as Everton have won just one Premier League game all season, it’s safe to say they may well be regretting letting the forward leave all those years ago.

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