22 February 2024 , 17:23
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Former Barcelona and AC Milan winger Gerard Deulofeu has revealed he might never play football again.
The 29-year-old Udinese star has been going through a heartwrenching stuggle to return to action after undergoing an operation on his knee in January 2023. Deulofeu extended his deal with the Serie A side until 2026 in the summer but has yet to return to action and may never do so.
The Catalonia and Spain international suffered a significant knee injury in 2020 and recovered to become an important asset for Udinese. However, he has endured repeated setbacks in that time.
Deulofeu, who has played for Watford and Everton in the Premier League has described the last 13 months as an ordeal, and is limited in what he can say about his issue due to an agreement with his employers. He retains some ambition to return to action but has already accepted that may not be possible.
The Spaniard has provided 18 goals and 14 assists across 68 matches for Udinese and detailed his tribulations on the Jijantes Twitch channel. “For several months I’ve known that I might not play again," he said.
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"I can’t do what I love for a long time, I haven’t played for over a year. I can’t say much, but I’m going through an ordeal. You can’t imagine what I’m going through.
“I’m trying to recover in every way, but I’ve accepted the idea that I may never recover. I had an injury in 2020, my knee was very traumatized, but I managed to recover. I then suffered another injury, for a third time and there were complications.
Udinese's Gerard Deulofeu fears his career could be over due to a serious knee injury (Getty Images)“I can’t say much because I have an agreement with my club, but I’ll just say that it’s a real ordeal, you can’t imagine what’s happening to me. However, I’m trying to recover in every way. But I’m also preparing for what could be a post-playing career.”
Deulofeu played just once in 2023 when he was on the field for 13 minutes against Sampdoria in his final outing before knee surgery. He suffered an issue before that which ruled him out for three games and had two goals and six assists to his name from the opening 16 matches of that season.
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