Here’s a mild take for ya: of all the potential big(-ish) money exits possible this summer at Chelsea, Marc Cucurella’s would probably be the least impactful. Jorrel Hato’s ready. Cucu’s been quiet-quitting since January, but certainly since the end of March. And his performances on the pitch (especially compared to last season) have reflected that.
Cucurella’s contract is also one of the more moveable assets with “just” three years left on it — a veritable blink of an eye in BlueCo-spreadsheet-land
— and he’s one of the oldest members of the squad (yet never really put forth as a leader on the team). He’ll be turning 28 later this summer and while it’s unlikely that he would command £55m in the market again like we overpaid to Brighton & Hove Albion in 2022, we’ve been pretty good at negotiating outgoing transfer fees even against odds and expectations, and that could certainly be helpful for our ever-concerning bottom line.
To that effect, The Athletic report that “multiple clubs” have been making enquiries with Cucurella’s camp about a potential move, with the likes of Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid, and Manchester City offered as examples of teams with reasonable motivations to maybe do so. Cucu himself is said to be “willing to leave […] after a frustrating season” while Chelsea apparently “would not block his departure” if we got an right offer that matched our valuation. There’s no word on what that number might be however.
The report adds that Xabi Alonso has touched base with Cucurella and is aware of the situation.
So, let’s see if any of these teams linked makes an actual move.
