"The Barça I played for was a winning team, now it's not"

Right winger Gerard Deulofeu left Barcelona in the summer of 2013, aged 19. He returned to the Camp Nou for the 2017-18 season, but his stay there was only for one season, after which he headed to Watford.

Deulofeu is currently at Udinese, a club where he has found happiness. In an interview with 'Sport', the player explained why he didn't find at Barça the great form he has shown at the Italian club.

"I was a very young boy, very irregular.... To succeed you need to be at a different level mentally and physically, to know your entourage, to know the Camp Nou. It was impossible for him to succeed the way I was. But I understand it perfectly, I was very young, I was coming out of Barça B and it was all very nice. I didn't have the tools, the control of that time. It's normal for the age I was", he commented.

He, due to his circumstances, could not give his best side, that's why he likes what Gavi, Pedri, Ansu or Araujo are doing right now as 'Cules': It's a real surprise to see how such young players have such a great level to control the situation. It is true that they are two different eras. I was in a different era: Barça was a winning team and now it's not, it's in transition.

Deulofeu has no regrets about leaving Barcelona at the time, as he believes he has found his best self. "I'm at my best at 100 per cent. My next few years I think they will be even better. When you're 28 and you're like this, the only things that can happen are beautiful things," he said.

Although he is now injured, Deulofeu is in no hurry to recover. He said he narrowly escaped rupturing his knee ligament. "I was saved thanks to my physique, thanks to the work I've been doing over the years," he said.