August 5, (THEWILL) – On Friday, Chelsea made it official that Marc Cucurella had become one of their own, in a summer move to Stamford Bridge from Brighton and Hove Albion with a photo on Twitter with the caption “It’s Real.”
Cucurella joins Chelsea in a deal that starts at £56 million with a potential add-on of £7 million. He submitted a transfer request because Manchester City wanted him, but the two teams were unable to reach an agreement since Brighton insisted on charging £50 million for the left-back.
City were unwilling to meet the transfer demand, which caused the deal to fall through and gave Chelsea the opportunity to compete for his services. The 24-year-old left-back was only open to being signed by City provided the asking price was cut to £35 million.
Thomas Tuchel has worked to improve his defensive options during the summer window, with the exit of Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger to Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively. Matthijs de Ligt and Jules Kounde were targets for Chelsea, but they ultimately decided to join Bayern Munich and Barcelona instead.
Cucurella, who was named Brighton’s player of the year the previous year, participated in 38 games during his time with Graham Potter’s squad.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
