From 'the Golden Pair' to Real Madrid and Barcelona dropouts

The duo were the stars of their respective academies. Two undeniable talents who became good friends after playing with each other in the Spanish youth teams who surprised the world with the speed and the impudence with which they took on the tournaments they shared. 

Both of them made the big jump seasons ago. They made it into the first teams, but for various reasons they couldn't make it stick. Deulofeu was stuck with managers who didn't quite understand his character and he moved to Everton in search of more first-team football. He never quite showed his full potential there, but a loan spell at Milan was enough to earn him a return to Barcelona and the Spanish national side. That didn't go as planned and he now plies his trade at Watford. 

As for Jese, a knee injury halted his development and he has never quite recovered from that blow. He lost his place at Real Madrid after Alvaro Morata returned and he moved to a PSG side managed by Unai Emery - another talent who came through the Real Madrid academy but looked to make his name elsewhere. 

It didn't work out in Paris, nor at Las Palmas. A torried time at Stoke followed, and Jese is now left searching for somewhere to resurrect his career. The golden pair from the youth teams are both struggling, but with age on their side they can still prove their worth.