Gerard Deulofeu (Riudarenes, 1994) dazzled the Barcelona fans, who smacked their lips with the youth squad's technical delicacy, but it did not materialize in the first team and he had to find a life in teams like Everton, Sevilla and Milan before to end up definitively at Watford. The new Messi who did not reach that much. At 28, he has found stability and his highest level at Udinese. Shortly after giving this interview to ABC, he injured his knee in the game played last Saturday against Napoli. He walked through the tears but the tests carried out left him in a scare: a sprain that will only stretch him 20 days off. According to the doctor, his lifestyle has been key to this.
—How are you doing in Italy and in Udinese?
—I'm great, wonderful, enjoying this moment both collectively with the team and personally. I am enjoying it a lot, especially giving priority to being healthy on the field and being able to enjoy football, although this has made me learn the two injuries I had. I am very happy and going through an important moment in my career.
—Two injuries to the same knee… How did it affect you?
—There were two very serious injuries to the same knee that made me suffer a lot, not finding myself at certain times and you can only push forward with desire and illusion. I couldn't be playing at the level that I am after these two injuries, but I would have dedicated my whole life and all my focus to football. And also thanks to my family, who have allowed me to spend many hours in this approach to return to where I am now.
—Is being happy reflected in the field?
—The times that I have gone through and the experiences of having been in different countries and changing rooms have enriched me a lot. I am a totally different person than I was when I was young, as a player too… And that makes you hear football much better and what your teammates and the coach want from you. So you can go back to one level and control all aspects of your life and your sport.
—What is the secret to being so well?
—I always say that the family is 50 percent and football the other 50. If you have the family and personal aspect aligned and organized, then the professional aspect will also be in the same line and you will be able to compete and be at the level in what you want. It is clear that this involves a lot of preparation, a lot of match focus, going to the millimeter with each job I do. But my personal life is essential for my professional life to be good.
"Is he in his prime?"
-It could be. At the level of happiness I have no doubt. At the performance level I have had many good moments during my career and this would be one of them. The statistics say that it is the greatest moment and my happiness too, so I leave it to you to assess (laughs).
—You say that now you take great care of yourself, didn't you before?
-No. It means that I go to the millimeter. I analyze any type of detail and what I can do to be better than the rival every weekend. That makes you eat better, rest better, have any type of technique, machines... A thousand things to get to the game being better than your opponent. There are very good people, the matches are very difficult and every time there are younger people and you have to be above them.
—And what changes have you introduced in your life?
—One of the resources that he introduced is to eat only when I'm really hungry. According to my calendar and my life makes me eat twice a day. One in the morning and one at night. That makes you space meals and eat when you're really hungry. You control the food, the food does not control you. From my experience, I sometimes ate four or five times a day. He finished one meal and was already thinking about the other. I have managed to control it and eat high quality food. It makes me have energy on the field and I don't suffer from finishing games like I used to.
Are you a dietician?
—I have a work team that is in charge of controlling my diet. I have my cook at home, who is wonderful. Among them he controls the issue of food, which is important but at the same time simple. I'm very happy.
—And will rest also be important?
- Rest is very important. I have to thank my partner very much for that because we have children and to get to training rested you need to rest. Children in their first years are difficult but my partner helps me. I'm very lucky in that regard.
—You sleep in a Hogo Bed, a kind of anti-radiation bubble. Do you wake up younger every day?
"It's the biggest thing in the world. Sleep rest in a bed like Hogo is one of the fundamental things that I put in my life and in my change. He makes you get up the next day with incredible energy, eager, without pain, he rejuvenates you, resets you... It's a scandal. You have to try it to feel it.
—You are an unabashed defender of psychoneuroimmunology…
—I have four experts who work with me, who help me in any aspect of my life, be it emotionally, physically, or eating... They are guys who know the body perfectly, who know how it works and from there we work to act in the best way so that personal and professional life work perfectly.
Deulofeu, together with the 'Regenera' team that helps him align all aspects of his life ABC
—Did you feel like a broken toy at Barcelona?
—What I feel is that I am very proud of my time at Barcelona. Then, the expectations that I or people had, in the end were expectations and assumptions. What we have to stay with is what has happened. I accept it and I recognize it. Of course it could have been different and I could have changed it if I had been in the mode and state I am in now but it has been. The only thing he could do is think about my present and act as I am doing, in a different state than when I was young.
—But the wardrobe could have helped him more...
I don't blame anyone at all. It was as it was, it is past and I have had a very different mentality from the one I have now. That's it. These are times and everyone has to go through those times and that inexperience of not knowing what my teammates and coach would want. I spent it in some powerful ones and that is why it has had more repercussions but, luckily, I am at a young age and performing at a very high level at 28 years of age.
—Do you feel reflected in Pedri, Gavi, Balde…?
-Whether it's. It's a scandal to see these players, how they compete. I know and value what they are doing because of what I have been through there. I wish them to continue like this because what they are doing is very difficult. The people of Barcelona and football have to value it a lot.
—What challenges do you have in the future?
I don't know the future, nor do I care. A good future will come if the focus on the present and the state I'm in are right. As I am very calm and I have everything organized, I am sure that my future, even without caring, is going to be great.
—Having played in LaLiga, Premier and Serie A defines you as the most complete footballer?
-Whether it's. You take experiences from three different leagues and how you have to act depending on the opponent in front of you... Any small aspect can help you and it has helped me from a very young age to go out and live these experiences. But you have to think about the present and where I am, in Serie A and act and play accordingly.
—And could you develop your game in LaLiga again?
—I don't know because I don't put myself in the situation. I only think about Udinese and loving Udinese because in life he learned that where you are you have to want to be. From there they will eat things and you will enjoy today. Tomorrow did not matter to me. And the Spanish League doesn't matter to me right now because it's an assumption.
