I was kidding on Twitter when Anderson scored his two goals that he was finally living up to the media who labelled him “the next Ronaldinho” early in his career. The next Pele, Maradona, and Cruyffs seem to pop up every other day in this media crazed age we are in and sometimes the media are right – which is only expected with the immense volume of ridiculous comparisons that are spewed by journalists and bloggers looking to draw traffic. Last weekend the internets were abuzz with discussion about the next potential Barcelona superstar out of La Masia, Gerard Deulofeu who was on the bench in Barcelona’s 2-1 loss to Real Sociedad. Unfortunately the 17 year old did not get on the pitch although I would expect to see him in La Liga before the season ends. So for me as much as anyone else I wanted to look into this vast talent and see what fans of Barcelona and Spain have to look forward to.

Deulofeu was born in Girona Catalonia and has been in the Barcelona organization since 2003 when he joined the Benjamin A’s (he was nine years old at the time). He is being touted as the next Messi, which is high praise to be heaped upon the shoulders of one so young. His favoured position is on the left of a front three attack but he can also play on the wing. He is technically gifted with unbelievable one on one skill (much like Lionel Messi). He has a slight frame at 5 feet and 10 and a half inches and is lighting fast and it is hard to take the ball off of him at pace. In addition to this Gerard is a great passer but he has had to learn a more team-like approach to his game. A former coach of his, Francisco Sanchez, had this to say about the young Spaniard.

“Deulofeu is different from the rest, that’s what defines him.” “He was very individualistic, but is learning to be more of a team player.” “He is lethal in one on one’s and unpredictable.”

Once Barcelona clinches La Liga, I would expect Guardiola to give a number of youngsters (including Gerard) their senior team debuts. Deulofeu’s rapid rise to prominence has to give Bojan Krkic pause as Gerard is yet another player who will be fighting for one of the coveted front three positions for Barcelona. Deulofeu has been linked to many of the top sides in the world for the last number of years but I think Barcelona realize the immense talent they have unearthed and will gradually enter him into the senior team in the next year. It certainly will had some needed depth at the forward positions with the relying on Messi/Villa/Pedro being very obvious this season.

Article written by Caleb Cousens for barcaloco.com. Caleb can be found on Twitter at @Gaffers_Corner.