?Inter Milan are ‘paying attention’ to Gerard Deulofeu’s situation at Barcelona following the £142m arrival of Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool.
Club director Piero Ausilio was quoted by ?Football Espana as he commented on the growing links over a possible loan switch to San Siro for the former Everton starlet.
Deulofeu is facing less time on the pitch for La Blaugrana after Coutinho rocked up at Camp Nou over the weekend, and would do well to find regular first-team football elsewhere.
Ausilio stated that the winger was one potential player that Inter were looking at, though he tried to temper expectations by also stating that his side hadn’t made a formal bid for the Spain Under-21 international’s services.
He said: “There have been no formal offers for Deulofeu, but we are paying attention to the situation. If there are the conditions to try something, we know the characteristics we are looking for. Deulofeu could be the right profile, but he isn’t the only one.”
Deulofeu only rejoined Barcelona from Everton last summer after the current La Liga leaders opted to activate the buy back clause they had insisted upon in his Toffees contract.
Inter Milan could have made contact with Barça about a loan deal for Gerard Deulofeu until the end of the season. It’s unclear if Inter want to have a buy option [md]
— FC Barcelona Fl (@FCBarcelonaFl) January 5, 2018
(You may also be interested in ?Inter Keeping Tabs on Juan Mata as Manchester United Eye Midfield Reinforcements)
The 23-year-old moved back to Catalonia for around £8m but has found minutes on the pitch extremely hard to come by under Ernesto Valverde this term.
Deulofeu has featured 16 times for Barca this season and, whilst 11 of those appearances have come from the start, only six have been made in Spain’s top flight.
Indeed, Deulofeu hasn’t started a league match since the 2-0 win over Malaga in late October and has spent the past few weeks recuperating from knee ligaments that he strained in training at the start of December.
Deulofeu was available for selection for the 3-0 victory over Levante on Sunday, but his absence from the match day squad has only further increased speculation over his time in north east Spain.
Inter, who are also said to be looking at signing Jiangsu Suning’s Ramires and Lazio’s Stefan de Vrij, could yet bring Deulofeu to Italy if they can strike a deal with Barca.
Let’