Serie A outfit is ready to offer a loan move for Barcelona Winger Gerard Deulofeu in January.

The Catalan club brought back Gerard Deulofeu during the summer transfer window with the help of a buy-back clause. This was done because Barcelona expected the Spaniard to fill the void caused by Neymar’s departure, along with the club record-signing Ousmane Dembele. But, the winger has failed to impress the manager Ernesto Valverde so far and has shown signs of alarming inconsistencies.

The Serie A club Napoli has now shown interest in the winger and according to the reports in Rai Sport, Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri thinks the Spaniard can be a perfect squad player and can be used to rest Naopli’s superstars, Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne. With Napoli fighting for their first Scudetto since the 1989/90 season and currently sit second, one point behind leaders Inter Milan and one point ahead of reigning Italian Champions Juventus.

Gerard Deulofeu is the product of Barcelona’s famed La Masia and was transferred to Everton in 2015. During his time at Goodison Park the 23-year-old made 75 appearances and scored 8 goals and provided 19 assists for Everton. But his best spell came during the 2015/16 season where he scored 4 goals and recorded a further 13 assists in all competitions.

However, sub-par performances in the first half of 2016-17 season forced Everton to send him on loan at AC Milan. The player again impressed in short time at Milan and it tempted Barca to bring him back. But the inconsistency has been a huge problem in Deulofeu’s career and he hasn’t been able to replicate his form at Camp Nou.

Gerard Deulofeu's stats during his loan spell at AC Milan. #EFC pic.twitter.com/VZL1G5syTl

— EFC Statto (@EFC_Statto) April 10, 2017

The winger has scored just 1 goal at the club and has failed to make it to the starting XI despite Dembele’s injury. The winger has not started any game since Barcelona’s game against Malaga in October. In the last two league matches, Ernesto Valverde did not even name him on the bench.

Napoli, currently 2^nd in the league, have a chance of winning the league for the first time after 1990. The Partenopei have Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne in the attack but with Round of 32 tie against RB Leipzig in February, the Italians are looking to add depth to their squad.

Author’s Take:

Gerard Deulofeu is a winger with great speed and dribbling skills but inconsistency has been his enemy so far. The winger should have performed better as Dembele was injured. But with the Frenchman making his comeback soon, the Spaniard will get even fewer opportunities. So, a move to Napoli might be good for him but Barcelona should think twice before letting him go, as the Catalans do not have much depth in attack either.

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