Arsenal’s already delicate relationship with FC Barcelona is set to be stretched to the max in the coming weeks as the Gunners are closing in on the signature of 14-year-old wing wizard Gerard Deulofeu.
Chelsea and Liverpool have also been following the youngster after he starred for the Spanish Youth team in a tournament which was held in Holland, this prompted big media attention for the prospect, which has lured some of England’s biggest Clubs.
Four of Spain’s big football agency’s have made approaches to represent the player, although as yet they have all been rebuffed. However, he does have a professional agent who is employed by the Deulofeu family, and reports coming from Spain claim Arsenal’s Spanish scout Francis Cagigao has already been in touch.
Cagigao is one of Arsène Wenger’s most prized assets, and has successfully recruited the likes of Cesc Fàbregas, Fran Mérida and more recently Ignasi Miquel Pons. His influence will be crucial in any possible deal, leaving Barça yet again livid with the Gunners methods of signing youngsters.
Gerard is a pacy, technical and elegant left winger who can also play on the right, yet he is not a traditional attacking midfielder. In a similar way to Robert Pires, Samir Nasri, Tomas Rosicky and Marc Overmars, he is a right footed player operating on the left, meaning he can cut inside with deadly effect.
Blessed with slick control, skills in abundance, electric pace and a fantastic finish, Deulofeu really does have it all. Arsenal’s record for developing Spanish talents is second to none, indeed, Fàbregas is a first team regular, Mérida started in the Carling Cup last night, and Miquel already has a winners medal with the Under 16’s.
He can take heart from all of that, and should everything fall into place, Gerard could lead a crop of Young Guns in the future. You can watch two videos of the player in action below.
– Video One – Video Two –
Article By – J.Sanderson
wow 14 is very young. I personally think kids shouldn’t be brought over until they’re 18 but 16 at the very earliest.
he looks great and with the knowledge that it could be just two years at arsenal before he’s given a shot at first team action rather than the knowledge that he wouldnt be called upon at barca until at least 20 he could well make the leap like so many of europes young talents who are embeding themselves within the premierleague academys. also good news on the quata front as players like these demed as homegrown. come on cagigoa!
Wow, this sounds like its actually happening. I thought it was just idle speculations.
He doesn’t really look that special for 14, to be honest. I went to school with Paul Rodgers who at 14, was better than guy attacking wise. More ball control, stronger, pretty much most things, he looks like a typical prospect.
Still, I’m not complaining, if we’re after him with many others he must be something special, lets hope Fabregas, Merida and Miquel can persuade him / tap him up. :p
i have to agree that once we start targeting 14 yr olds where will it lead? its too young to uproot a kid with the bait of the fabregas example. 14 is not old enough to make your own descisions and thus we are effectively targeting his parents and advisors. its not right in my opinion. he’s just a kid.
Sanderson do you think merida and merida will turn out to be anything special or just squad or midtable type players?
Dave – That’s the thing, if you train or play with somebody talented, you develop a bigger opinion on them that is really the case.
You almost want them to do well so you hype them up a little.
I think Fran can be something very special yes, i was very impressed with him last night.
Dave I don’t think its possible to make a comparision between those 2 players based on this video. In the very least its hasty. If Wenger didn’t think he was better the Paul Rodgers he wouldn’t look to sign him
Im on the fence here laughing 14 is to be honest a disgrace and I am wengers biggest fan on the other hand I hope he comes and is better than christian ronaldo ….Its all very much about the future BUT hand on heart I cant say at 14 it sits easy with me I can see where other fans come from when recruit from so far away at that age its not like he is from Harlsden.Whats your thoughts Jay on the age ?
hey guyz im a bit late but does any body have the link to the leaked document of the team motivation sheet ???/ like from the sun or something ?
UNO WAT pple sayin we shuldnt sign 14 yr olds sorry for my language but f*** u, cus its nt his parents choice its his, if cumin to arsenal is a mistake it aint arsenals fault its his, that would b his mistake signing and that is wat life is all about and fuck platini aswell jus cus he says we poach yungguns, we shuldnt? hes anyone in the world noone cares abwt him, ARSENE KEEP DOIN WAT UR DOIN
whats his nationality?
he looks great but I feel a bit strange about stealing Barca’s young players just because they cant sign a pro contract. I know it benefits us, but FIFA need to get a ruling in place to stop kids this young being poached. there has to be a way round it. If chelsea stole Wilshre now, how annoyed would you be?
oH i just saw it his spanish
J i read over the weekend his reps were saying that there not intresting in a move away from barca
There is a lack of loyalty abroad, that’s there problem.
J you have come and said that we will sign a few youngsters in the past that we havent signed, for example Ramos etc… I know you never said they were done or it was very likely, (this is no jibe) but by the sound of the article it sounds QUITE concrete. SO how sure can you be that we will sign him?
There isn’t a lack of loyalty, or anything like that. The only reason why we are able to sign kids from Spain is simple. In Spain they operate an A,B,C squad system. Once they are registered for a squad, they can only play for the squad they are registered for. The maximum allowed is 25. Naturally, the first team players will dominate the A squad, and if there are talented kids, they will be added on. However, the majority of youngsters play for the Bs and Cs – they cannot possibly play in a first team game (even if it is a dead champions league game or a copa del rey tie against lower opposition). This added to the fact that the club will not pay decent wages to players that cannot contribute to the first team and it is easy to see why Arsenal and other English clubs can nick these players.
Also, it says a lot about the character of these foreign lads to come to England – when was the last time a youngster went abroad from England? It has nothing to with loyalty and a lot more to do with balls.
I would rather have that other Barcelona youngster Alain Richard Ebwelle than this Gerard Deulofeu kid IMO
Personally its a bit young to be touting foreign 14 year olds and I feel its a bit too much presure to be giving young boys like this tags such as new ronaldinho or in Jack Wilshires case new Liam Brady. Fifa should intervene and stop the trade of players under the age of 16. Its not Arsenals fault this is happening as it is within the laws of the game and remember sometimes is the players family who are after these moves as it can be finacially lucrative for them even at this stage and the player may not even make it as a pro.
Steve, you’ve been playing too much FM because unlimited players can be picked for C team, and if registered for C, you can play for all, if registered for B, you can play for the first team aswell.
That’s not why they leave at all.
Gui Assulin for example, made his debut for Barcelona first team and went back to ‘C’..
He is not as good as Kevin Zidane Kilbane
hey i posted this a few days ago in this article (http://youngguns.wordpress.com/2008/09/21/arsenal-preparing-an-offer-for-lazio-starlet-mendicino/) asking ya about this kid jamie thanks for more info
Catalan sports paper Sport claims that several English Premier League clubs are interested in Barcelona Cadete A wing attacker Gerard Deulofeu (14).
Scouts of Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool have been following the performances of Deulofeu during an international youth tournament in the Netherlands earlier this year and this has lead to contacts with the entourage of the Catalan player.
Although several agencies have already offered their services to his parents, Deulofeu, who joined Barcelona from Espanyol a few years ago, is at this moment not yet represented by a professional agent.
here is a short video jamie u heard anything ??
paul farrah said this on September 21, 2008 at 1:43 pm
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uldX4Qp_IFQ
J, do you think this deal is actually gunner happen? (sorry if this has been asked before but i cant be asked to look)
Dave the lack of loyalty comment is just complete paranoia. I don’t think it is fair to other clubs like Barca (although I don’t like them much) that we can do this but then maybe FIFA should try and do something maybe? We did let them have Henry so I suppose it’s only fair we get this kid in return;). It’s his choice ultimately and we’re acting within the rules of the game. He just needs to think it through himself and make his own choice, that is if the rumours are actually true.
One day an other club from at home or abroad is going to steel one of our best young players and you watch the calls of outrage happen on this website IMO
Kent paul – no one can ‘steal’ a player. Players only leave if they think they can get a better deal elsewhere e.g. money or playing time. I do agree that 14 is too young to be scouted for an overseas academy.
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Kent Paul, we have had many senior players “stolen” from us over the years – which apparently is due to higher wagers/other chances for glory. I don’t believe our youngsters would choose to go to other clubs because they won’t get to have the same opportunities to play in the first team at other clubs like they do at Arsenal.
J, when do you think our academy system will be able to rival Barcelona’s? Because although it is already quality, Barcelonas is better because of the sheer number of players breaking into the 1st team… e.g Messi,Iniesta, Puyol, Bojan, Valdes..
..And also its crazy to sign so many “wonderkids” because in a few years time we will potentially have a backlog of talented players who can’t all fit into the team and will have to be sold – after we peovided them with quality arsenal training!!! I dont get it!?
yeh buts better to have too much talent rather than have not enough!
Does anyone know who gave Wilshire the pass for him to score last night? I saw that Merida took a short corner with another Atsenal player but not who gave him the assist? Any ideas J?
Only Bojan and Messi were under the age of 20 when they made their 1st team debuts.Pujol was 21 when he made his.
the parents of these kids make the final decision not anyone else they want the best for their child and when they make the grade it benifits them and spain.Cesc Fabragas has said that he was in the c squad and going nowhere the team would win 25-nil or more every game they played and he was behind a whole host of players aiming for the first team. It would do england so much good if our young players went abraod to learn their trade they would learn a new culture open their eyes make them better people as well as better footballers.Age should not be a barrier.Bacelona have the whole iberian peninsula to find talant they take players even earlier from their rivals.They cannot possibly develope all many good potential players fall by the wayside perhaps even a fabragas.He thanks Wenger for rescuing him.
I used to play with a lad brom Borro at school for a few years until he moved back to england and he was stunning yet last time i spoke to him he was still playing amatuer sunday league stuff.
U gotta rememba that when we watch vids like this he is playing for barcelona against other top sides. It doesnt matter if its U16s or U14s, its 11 top young players who are all stars for their school sides on both teams. Very rarely can you say the best football at your school when u were there went on to be a top class footballer how ever good they seemed.
I think if we can really get this kid it would be a good move since he looks extremely talented. However morally i feel its a bit sticky since its a 14 yr old, hes not even old enough to play a first team game yet, and if we get him and he doesnt make it at the club it would be very sad. But having said that he looks very talented and we have a great youth system here so i dont see how we could mess him up.
fuck em. they tap our players up summer after summer.
“fuck em. they tap our players up summer after summer.”
Lol. Yea, there is that aswell. I doubt if we leave him be out of a moral standing they will ever consider returning the favour.
its getting younger and younger each time…
I feel a bit bad that we’re targeting so many of Barca’s kids. It’s not right, and Wenger should know better. It’s not so much a matter of age (you don’t know that much more at 16 than you do at 14) – it’s a matter of respecting Barca’s rights as the nurturing club. It’s not legally enshrined like the contract, but still… it’s not moral. And with regards to their tapping up of our players, two wrongs don’t make a right.
I feel that the age is not really the issue here and that it is more a matter of how mature the player is as a person.
Some 14 year olds, the more mature ones may relish the opportunity of moving abroad and see it as a great learning curve and a real chance to focus on their football,
Others though may be not as developed mentally, after all there only 14, these types of players might still want to be lads, having a laugh with there m8s and not focus solely on football.
I think our scouts are more than able to identify between these two types of people and therefore I trust that if we are targeting a 14 year old it is not only for his football talent but also because he will be able to cope with the demands of applying his trade and living in a foreign country.
So me personally have no problems with us signing a player of this age!!
i think we should start “stealing” players from AC Milan!
They take our players so we should take their promising youth , make them class and sell back to Milan for a load of cash!
Barcelona should not be mad. They have taken our players over the years. Petit, Overmars, Gio, Sylvinho, Hleb, Henry etc
AC Milan have not produced a world class young player since Paolo Mildini made his debuet for them in 1985 IMO
Why doesn’t Spain changes its rules so that their brightest prospects can be tied up earlier? I do feel for Barca and other European teams which can only see their young stars snapped up by other teams without compensation. Barca take our players, yes, and sometimes their strategy is less than honorable, but they do pay hefty transfer fees so it’s not the same thing.
I don’t mind seeing this kid in red and white though.
This one should be for Henry