Man Utd face tough fight to sign Everton flop

Manchester United could reportedly miss out on the signing of Everton forward Gerard Deulofeu amid interest from former club Liverpool, The Express claims.

The former La Masia student struggled for regular playing time at Goodison under Ronald Koeman, and this urged him to link up with AC Milan for the second half of the campaign.

Deulofeu has since stood out with his performances at the Rossoneri where he has notched two goals and three assists in 14 Serie A starts.

According to The Express, via Diario Gol, United face a tough task of luring Deulofeu to Old Trafford with Barca prepared to activate the £10.3m buy-back option in his contract.

Barcelona were initially hoping to integrate the player into the squad ahead of next season, but they could now use Deulofeu as makeweight in a proposed deal for one of Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho or Arsenal's Hector Bellerin this summer.

Deulofeu earned his recall to the Spain setup earlier in the year as he scored a goal from the bench to clinch a 2-0 victory for La Roja against France.