Chelsea are tipped to take action to secure Marc Cucurella’s long-term future at the club amid transfer speculation relating to Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr.
Cucurella played more minutes than anyone in a Chelsea shirt last season, as the Blues secured Champions League qualification and won both the UEFA Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup. It is far removed from his early days at Stamford Bridge when the burden of expectation following a £63 million ($84 million) move from Brighton & Hove Albion appeared too much.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea intend to offer Cucurellla a new contract, seeing the left back as a “key part of the long term project” in west London.
Chelsea have not engaged in any talks with Al Nassr, whose interest in the players is “not confirmed”, but it won’t matter if the Blues want to tie down Cucurella anyway.
Dutch teenager Jorrel Hato is on the verge of joining Chelsea from Ajax and will be considered both Cucurella’s backup and an option in the centre of defence.
Speaking in March after Cucurella scored the winning goal in a Premier League game against Leicester City, Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca was full of praise. “Marc has something that is difficult to find,” the Italian gushed.
“He is clever and is intelligent. He scored two goals against Wolves and Brentford and he is probably the smallest one in the team. This shows you how intelligent he is because he is in the right position. He is playing like an attacking midfielder and is doing fantastic. He has scored four or five goals with us.”
Chelsea have successfully offloaded João Félix to Al Nassr this week, bringing an end his disastrous second spell at the club and doing so without incurring a financial loss and perhaps turning a profit.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Marc Cucurella: Chelsea’s ‘Response’ to Al Nassr Links.
