Gerard Deulofeu is playing, at 31, the most important match of his life. The opponent: medicine and biology. His most important goal will come when the cartilage in his right knee regenerates enough to be able to enjoy playing on the pitch again. Something he hopes will happen one day, without the pressure of a specific date, so that his children can watch him play for Udinese, the club that has been with him since his ordeal began in November 2022.
In this first part of an exclusive interview with Flashscore, the Spanish winger, raised in the Barcelona set-up, where he made his debut at just 17, and who had spells with Everton, Sevilla, Watford and Milan, as well as the Spanish national team, before arriving at Udinese, has spoken of the human and the divine.
Deulofeu touches on the psychological aspect of his rehabilitation, key to facing a path full of obstacles, as well as his experiences in LaLiga, the Premier League and Serie A.
"It's going to be very difficult, but I want to make history. I think I can be the player who has been out for the longest time who has been able to come back. That would be a magnificent and beautiful record for me.
"And to do it for my family and for my children. They were born knowing that I am a player, and now that they are a bit older, they are asking me to come back, and that breaks my heart."
That's the motivational message that Deulofeu repeats over and over again to take a step closer to a dream that began to go awry after a cartilage infection.
"The repercussion is that you can't train as you should, you lose muscle. Add to that adhesions to the kneecap and the aggressions to the knee," he explains before giving the good news.
"There is healing in the cartilage area because without that, with the bone-on-bone collision, it would be impossible to come back. But all that cartilage is healing, and now we have to clean the area and build more muscle so I can feel better and train morning and evening.
"Before, I used to work out one day and had to stop for two. Now, the knee is reacting well, and although I see it as a long way off, it's a good indicator."
Fighting against biology and against the mind
His problem, this very high degree of chondropathy affecting the cartilage, he says, "is more than an injury, it's something closer to a permanent disability, to having a prosthesis in the knee.
"Not being able to take a step because bone collides with bone is much more serious. I'm fighting against biology and also against this one (he points to his head).
"I've been going for two and a half years. I'm lucky that my team, my president and my colleagues at Udinese are with me. Luckily, I can train every day. It gives me a lot of strength to have the motivation to be able to train in my stadium every day."
But it is not easy to work in solitude and, for a long time, with hardly any progress.
"There are days and days, and you have to have a lot of patience, to be at home with your family to balance your mind emotionally. I can't count the number of times I've thought about quitting... but you know, I also have a team behind me, experts in psychoneuroimmunology that I rely on. And these experiences have made me stone cold.
"It's going to be very difficult for me to give up or be thrown away. Mine is a miracle, and I'm going to try until the last moment."
The example of Santi Cazorla
It is a similar path to that of another Spanish football legend, Santi Cazorla, who underwent surgery 11 times in two years and was able to play professionally again.
And there he is, 40 years old, still playing in LaLiga with Real Oviedo.
"We follow each other, and we have exchanged messages. Santi is an example for me. You only know what can happen if something similar happens to you.
"I know what it's like not to be able to enjoy your passion when you're young, and I put myself in his shoes because he's a legend and an example of overcoming adversity."
And that is what Deulofeu wants to become. Someone who, with the passing of time, will be remembered as the footballer who broke the record of returning to play professionally after overcoming the longest injury in history.
Someone who won the race against biology and medicine and who scored the most important goal of his life for himself, for his wife and children and for the family he found in Udinese, with the Pozzos at the head, who have never left him aside at any time.
Read Part Two of our chat with Deulofeu right here!
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