Tottenham Competing with Everton for Barcelona Starlet – Report

Tottenham Hotspur are hoping to beat Everton to the signing of Barcelona forward Gerard Deulofeu, who is likely to be sent out on a season long loan in order to gain valuable top level experience.

The 19 year old has progressed through the famous La Masia academy and last season impressed while playing for Barcelona B as he scored 18 league goals in his 33 appearances.

He has continued to excel while representing Spain at the Under-20 World Cup in Turkey but is unlikely to get a chance in the Barcelona first team next season after they added Brazilian forward Neymar to their ranks.

Deulofeu recently signed a new four year deal with the Catalan club who are seemingly prepared to allow him to join a Premier League side for one season.

The Daily Mail reports that Arsenal and Liverpool had shown an interest in the youngster, but they believe that these two clubs great rivals Tottenham and Everton are the favourites to secure a loan deal.

Deulofeu would be an exciting addition for either side as the Spanish youngster has bags of ability and has been compared with Lionel Messi on numerous occasions for his ability to run with the ball and score spectacular goals.

Tottenham would hope that the lure of European football would be a major advantage over Everton who are rebuilding after losing long serving manager David Moyes to Manchester United.

Everton boss Roberto Martinez will want to bring in his own players and it would be a major coup if he was able to persuade Barcelona to loan one of their brightest talents.

However, whichever club wins the race it is almost certain that they will only profit from having Deulofeu for one season as Barcelona believe the youngster has a bright future at the Camp Nou and will be keen to start integrating him into the first team in the coming years.