Chelsea have reached an agreement to sign Marc Cucurella from Brighton for £52.5m.
The Spaniard handed in a transfer request on Friday in a bid to push through a move to Manchester City but the Premier League champions did not want to pay Brighton’s asking price for the 24-year-old.
The Seagulls had previously rejected a £30m bid for the full-back from Pep Guardiola’s side, who are looking for a replacement for Oleksandr Zinchenko after he joined Arsenal.
Cucurella enjoyed a hugely successful first Premier League season after moving from Getafe in a deal worth around £15m last summer and was named Brighton’s player of the season.
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Watch Cucurella’s best bits in the Premier League
Brighton did not want to let Cucurella leave and it took Chelsea’s huge offer for them to sell as he had four years remaining on his contract at the Amex.
Cucurella ranked among the top six in the Premier League for tackles and regaining possession in defensive areas last season, but also contributed considerably further up the pitch
Chelsea moved for Cucurella with doubts surrounding the future of left-back Marcos Alonso, with Barcelona reportedly wanting to sign the 31-year-old this summer. Blues captain Cesar Azpilicueta is also wanted by the Spanish giants with the defender having one year left on his deal.
First-choice left-back Ben Chilwell, who joined from Leicester in August 2020 for £50m, missed the majority of last season with a knee injury but has returned to full fitness in pre-season.
Thomas Tuchel’s side have made two signings this summer with the arrivals of Raheem Sterling for £47.5m from City and defender Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli in a £33m deal.
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Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel says they need to sign top-quality players like Raheem Sterling to challenge for the Premier League
Why did Brighton value Cucurella at £50m?
Sky Sports‘ Elliot Cook analyses how Brighton came to sell Cucurella for over £50m:
“Manchester City’s £30m bid was considered laughable in the corridors of the Amex. There was a sense of disappointment with the way City handled their pursuit of the player.
“Brighton’s argument for placing that price tag on the player is comprised of the following: They sold Ben White to Arsenal for £50m after one season in the Premier League with Brighton. Cucurella is considered to be a better player now and in terms of potential.
“Secondly, Cucurella is only one year into a five-year contract. Brighton signed him from Getafe for a fee in the region of £15m. I’m told Guardiola monitored Cucurella while he was at Getafe and kept an eye on his progress.
Cucurella has made one appearance for Spain
“Tony Bloom is a hard negotiator. If Chelsea wanted Cucurella, they had to pay over £50m. Brighton were in a strong position. Chelsea had missed out on some of their defensive targets and Brighton knew they have rich owners.
“Brighton were looking to buy a player who can play left of a back three or in the left-back area before Manchester City’s bid for Cucurella. We reported they made a bid for Rangers’ Calvin Bassey who went to Ajax. They will sign a replacement in that area.
“Sky in Germany have reported that they’re interested in RB Leipzig’s Angelino. It’s unlikely they will go for a proven Premier League left-back. Brighton’s recruitment policy is to buy young talent from abroad, not buy established Premier League players.
“They have been monitoring Chelsea’s young centre-back Levi Colwill as have other Premier League clubs. It seems Chelsea don’t want to sell him but may allow him to go on loan.”
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