Watford winger Gerard Deulofeu admits he couldn't handle being dubbed 'the new Messi' at Barcelona.

As a young player in the famed Barcelona academy he was often described as 'the new Lionel Messi', a tag he found intimidating.

“I found out that being called the new Messi when I was young wasn't the best thing," he said. “It makes life difficult trying to live up to impossible expectations. It made ­trying to grow as a player really hard.

“I did learn a lot, especially when, at the age of 16, I was told to train with the Barca first team.

"What was obvious was that they could handle the pressure – I couldn't."