The last bomb of the summer has been the arrival of Marc Cucurella at Chelsea. Many are surprised by the amount that the English club has paid for the transfer of the left back: 65.3 million to Brighton; but the “blue” fans have welcomed him with open arms and have already invented a song for him: “Cucurella, Cucurella, he eats paella, he drinks Estrella, his hair is fucking massive”, which translated into Spanish would be : “Cucurella, Curella, he eats paella, Estrella drinks and his hair is fucking thick.”
Cucurella already made his debut with his new team in the first match of the 2022-23 Premier against Everton (0-1 victory, goal by Jorginho, from a penalty). He played the last quarter of an hour and entered for another of the signings: Koulibay. The London team is the club in Europe that has spent the most in this transfer market, with 186.59 million, according to the “transfermarkt” page. The 65.3 paid by Cucurella make him the third most expensive Spanish in history and Chelsea has been involved in all those transfers: it paid 80 million to Athletic for goalkeeper Kepa and 66 to Real Madrid for Álvaro Morata. “Cucu” is also the fourth largest transfer in this market: Tchouaméni to Real Madrid, 80 million: Daewin Núñez to Liverpool, 75 and De Ligt to Bayern, 67, are ahead. The left-back played in the lower categories of Barcelona, where he made his debut with the first team, played on loan at Eibar and Getafe, who took over his services and sold him to Brighton for 18 million, which has now multiplied the figure for more than three in the transfer.
Mendilibar was one of the coaches he had, at Eibar, and he defined it this way: “He’s not fast or strong… All those measurements that we make with so many machines that we have, if it is because of them that does not enter any of that measurement and you never sign it. He is a footballer, he is smart and chooses well”, he assured.
Departure of Marcos Alonso
Cucurella arrives at Chelsea to make up for the loss of Mark Alonsowho has not yet formalized his transfer, but Tuchel, the English coach, acknowledged that he had told him that he wanted to leave. His destiny is going to be Barcelona, who will continue to complete his squad with a position in which he has been only with Jordi Alba for years. The veteran player will now have tough competition and it remains to be seen what happens with Balde, the promising youth squad who was a starter at the Gamper in which Lewandowski made his debut and where the association of the Pole with Pedri shone.
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