There might not be another star in the current Chelsea first-team squad that has experienced highs and lows quite as extreme as Marc Cucurella in the last year. Ultimately, they’re so fortunate he still on their books.
Cucurella has definitely gone through so much in the last 12 months as a player.
The 25-year-old defender was out of favour at Chelsea if you look back to the start of last season. In fact, then-manager Mauricio Pochettino didn’t use him in the Premier League until October.
But when you look at the left-back now, he’s a European champion after playing an important role in Spain beating England 2-1 on the weekend in the final of Euro 2024. Gary Lineker called Cucurella a “machine” for his quality performances with Spain throughout the Euros, via The Rest Is Football.
Chelsea were reportedly ‘desperate’ to sell Marc Cucurella
Football Transfers reported in July 2023 that Chelsea were ‘desperate’ to sell Cucurella. At the time, Tottenham were credited with interest in the Spanish full-back.
The Chelsea Chronicle thinks they’re very lucky Cucurella stayed because 12 months on it’s now looking like he could be a really important individual at the club.
He finished last season strongly by starting 12 consecutive league matches to finish, where he excelled as an inverted left-back.
On top of that, he’s just enjoyed a superb international tournament with his country. The crowning moment of his contribution at the Euros has to be assisting Mikel Oyarzabal’s late winning goal in the final. WhoScored data gave Cucurella a 7.13 much rating for his performance in Spain’s victory over England.
It’s now going to be up to him to impress new Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca during pre-season.
In an interview with Cadenaser this month, Aleix Pique stated Cucurella is happy at Chelsea. Pique, the player’s agent, suggests the left-back will continue with the Blues.
It’s time to live up to the price tag
Brighten squeezed £60m (Sky Sports) out of Chelsea for Cucurella in 2022.
Brighton have surely been smiling about the Cucurella transfer fee ever since it happened, especially as the player has found it difficult to show any consistency in his game with the Blues.
Hopefully, he’s now fully turned a corner and is ready to show why he cost so much.
The Spain star can defend aggressively and intelligently in wide areas. Also, he possesses an attacking threat when he ventures forward.
His progress at Chelsea in the next few months is one of the most interesting stories to keep an eye out on.
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