Gerard Deulofeu has opened up on his failure to make it at Barcelona, admitting he found comparisons to Lionel Messi tough to deal with.
Deulofeu joined the Spanish club's academy at the age of nine.
He started his career with Barcelona, first appearing with the first team at the age of 17, and was loaned to Everton and Sevilla before joining the former on a permanent deal in the summer of 2015. After a successful loan spell at Italian side Milan, he was brought back to Barcelona in June 2017, before being loaned to Watford in January 2018; later that year, Watford signed him outright
And he admits he found the pressure hard to cope with at the Nou Camp.
'When you're young at Barca there are a lot of eyes on you, many people who think you will be the next Iniesta, the next Messi, stars of football,' Deulofeu explained to beIN Sports.
'That is hard because young players have to work calmly, every day, without pressure. You should learn and work but some people talk too much and they create a dream for you that is very difficult to reach.
'I'm proud to have formed at Barcelona because I learned a lot from their academy, but all people know my time in the first team wasn't the best. That was my objective and I did not manage to reach it.'
He added: 'It was very hard because you're playing well for Barca B and you know that you have Messi, Neymar and Pedro ahead of you, a lot of really good players and you have to decide if you want to be patient or leave and live other experiences, and play.'
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