EVERTON will complete a £5million deal for Gerard Deulofeu today with the Spanish winger undergoing a medical to seal his departure from Barcelona.
Deulofeu, 21, has already agreed personal terms and he will return to Goodison Park having spent 2013-14 on loan on Merseyside where he impressed in flashes.
Barcelona have a buy-back option for the next two years.
Deulofeu will be manager Roberto Martinez’s second summer buy following a free transfer move for England midfielder Tom Cleverley.
The youngster spent last season on loan at Seville and his departure is being mourned by some at the Nou Camp.
Toni Freixa, a candidate in Barcelona’s presidential elections, said the loss of Deulofeu was symbolic of the club’s “failure” to maximise the talent that they produce which, in turn, leaves them having to recruit at the top end of the transfer market.
"The model of signing players for €180m every summer is one Barcelona can’t afford," Freixa told Spanish newspape, AS. "A talented player in Deulofeu is about to move to Everton and that confirms the failure of the current model."