Marc Cucurella has revealed he ‘absolutely wanted’ to join another Premier League club before his move to Chelsea.
Eyebrows were raised when Chelsea spent £60m to sign Spain defender Cucurella from Brighton in 2022.
Cucurella had enjoyed one impressive season at Brighton but £60m was deemed too high a fee for a left-back, especially as England international Ben Chilwell was already at the club.
A number of pundits questioned Chelsea’s transfer move but Cucurella has proved his doubters wrong at Stamford Bridge, developing into one of the most important players at the club.
Cucurella is even regarded as one of the best left-backs in the world and was described as ‘incredible’ by Wayne Rooney after Chelsea’s recent Champions League win over Barcelona.
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The Barcelona academy graduate has already won the Conference League and Club World Cup with Chelsea and will hope to secure more silverware this season, with Enzo Maresca’s side currently third in the Premier League and seventh in the Champions League.
Cucurella almost never ended up at Chelsea, the 27-year-old revealing he ‘absolutely wanted’ to join Manchester City after Pep Guardiola tried to bring him to the Etihad Stadium.
City’s interest in Cucurella led to the Spaniard handing in a transfer request but the then-Premier League champions were unable to strike a deal with Brighton, failing with a £30m bid.
Cucurella believes Brighton’s ‘exorbitant demands’ blocked his dream move to Manchester City, with Guardiola signing Sergio Gomez instead, only for the fellow Spaniard to flop in the Premier League.
‘Man City were on fire and were one of the best teams in the world,’ Cucurella told El Desmarque. ‘I absolutely wanted to go.
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‘When they come like they did, and when Pep Guardiola asks you to, you’ll crawl there on your knees if necessary.
‘But the clubs couldn’t reach an agreement. Brighton had exorbitant demands, and it just wasn’t possible.’
Cucurella has played in all 13 of Chelsea’s Premier League games so far this season, including Sunday’s London derby against Arsenal.
The Blues lost influential midfielder Moises Caicedo to a first-half red card but recovered to draw 1-1 with the Premier League leaders.
Maresca’s team continue their 2025-26 campaign with a trip to Elland Road to face Leeds United on Wednesday night and ex-Premier League striker Chris Sutton has predicted an away win.
‘Leeds lumped it in the second half against Manchester City and it almost got them a point,’ he told BBC Sport.
‘They were lucky to still be in the game at half-time but fair play to Daniel Farke for making the substitutes and changing the system, because he has been accused of not being proactive enough during games.
‘As lively as Leeds were, they still ended up empty-handed, however, and it means they really need something here.
‘You know they will give it a go but, again, it is going to be hard for them to get anything out of a Chelsea side who are in really good form.
‘There might be a bit of an edge to this one, because going back to my time as a Chelsea player there was always a rivalry here.
‘I don’t think it will be as rough and tumble as it was when these teams met in the 1970 FA Cup final, but I’m going for the same outcome, which is a Chelsea win.’
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