Three years on, Deulofeu is still fighting for 'miracle' return

Had it just been a case of fixing his ACL - and Deulofeu stresses that is a "crazy" injury in itself, but one from which most modern footballers recover - he would have been back representing I Bianconeri more than two years ago.

Indeed, the winger successfully returned eight months after a previous ACL tear at Watford in 2020.

"You do the surgery and you change your ACL, your system, and you do a progressive recovery," he says. "But the problem was the infection."

That infection ate away at the cartilage in his knee, each scan showing it progressively deteriorating, reducing Deulofeu to the feeling of bone on bone.

"I wasn't the luckiest person," he shrugs.

He has consulted fellow Spaniard Santi Cazorla, who was sidelined for 636 days after gangrene ravaged his Achilles tendon, and takes inspiration from the former Arsenal midfielder's comeback.

"It is an amazing example," says Deulofeu. "To imagine how he suffered in these two years and a half, I can feel it now."

Deulofeu's first step was to have cell treatment in an attempt to rebuild the cartilage, but he faced a setback after attempting to run again.

"My knee needed to heal," he explains. "To train hard, first you have to heal."

Almost two years later, having continued with injections for his cell treatment, he believes he is close to trying to run once more.

It is a product of what Deulofeu says was six months of building "muscle, muscle, muscle" in the gym, working with a physio and fitness trainer for three to four hours every morning, five days a week at Udinese's Stadio Friuli.

"Let's see if I can accept impact," he says. "I am so happy because I feel the leg is really strong. The more muscle you get, the less pain you have inside the knee, so now I feel that, yes, my knee is prepared to run.

"I am feeling that I am close. If we speak about muscle, I am in the same levels of the available guys now.

"But let's see how they respond, with no cartilage and no meniscus..."

Deulofeu admits there were times he felt like quitting, but he remains remarkably upbeat and focused on his goal of returning to professional football.

"There are three really important things," he explains. "One, for sure, is family and home. To try to go ahead with this period, first of all your home has to be with peace and love every morning.

"Happiness, seeing your kids growing, with your wife, really good peace and love at home. That's really important to go to training every day with a good mood."