Chelsea couldn’t help but sneak in a little dig at Brighton when announcing the signing of Marc Cucurella on Friday.
The Spanish defender moved from Brighton to Chelsea in a deal worth up to £62 million. The transfer had been reported to be in the works for some time and on Wednesday, several media outlets confirmed that the move had been agreed.
Brighton, though, took umbrage with those reports and issued a strongly worded statement that began, as all serious statements do, with an all-caps “CLUB STATEMENT.”
CLUB STATEMENT: MARC CUCURELLA.
Contrary to inaccurate reports from numerous media outlets this evening, no agreement has been reached with any club to sell Marc Cucurella.
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) August 3, 2022
Even after that statement, it seemed that a move was still only a matter of when, not if. And so it proved on Friday when Chelsea confirmed the deal with a cheeky nod toward Brighton’s statement from two days prior.
CLUB STATEMENT: MARC CUCURELLA.
Following reports from numerous media outlets this week, we can confirm an agreement has been reached with Brighton and Hove Albion for the signing of Marc Cucurella.
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 5, 2022
Well played, Chelsea.
Tuchel explains Cucurella move
As to whether the move for Cucurella works out on the field, that remains an open question.
Chelsea already has plenty of left-back options and would seem to have greater needs in other areas of the field.
At a press conference on Friday, though, Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel said that the 24-year-old can play in other positions and will take pressure off Ben Chilwell, who missed most of last season with a torn ACL.
“He is a fantastic, young player,” Tuchel said of Cucurella. “Hungry, mobile, very intelligent player … Can play several positions in our system.
“It helps for Ben [Chilwell] to escape the pressure of ‘I have to deliver and we need you absolutely now.’
“We have, of course, also in this position Marcos Alonso, Kenedy and Emerson. Hopefully when things go through, Marc is the option in this position and he can play very well in the back three. It’s a profile of Azpi (Cesar Azpilicueta), with the left foot. He gives us many options.”
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