Chelsea confirm deal for Brighton defender Marc Cucurella after Manchester City miss out on Spaniard
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ByEurosport
Updated 05/08/2022 at 15:15 GMT
Marc Cucurella was seemingly destined for Manchester City at the start of the summer transfer window with City making their intentions clear by bidding up to £30m for the player. However, Chelsea came in and met Brighton's £50m valuation for the full-back, making him their fifth signing of the transfer window with more incomings expected in the coming weeks.
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Chelsea are set to complete the signing of Marc Cucurella from Brighton for a fee believed to be over £50m with Levi Colwill set to go in the opposite direction.
Personal terms were agreed on Tuesday before Chelsea met Brighton's valuation of the player.
Cucurella had originally been a Manchester City transfer target and handed in a transfer request last Friday in a bid to push through a move to the Premier League champions, but Chelsea have ultimately managed to convince the Spaniard to move to London instead.
City had a £30m bid rejected for the full-back earlier this summer with Pep Guardiola's side keen to find a replacement for the departed Oleksandr Zinchenko, who joined Arsenal. But the Citizens were not intent on making a higher bid.
Chelsea then capitalised on that stalemate, matching Brighton's asking price in order to sign the defender, who had four years left on his Brighton contract.
The Blues said in a statement: "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. "
Going in the opposite direction on loan is Blues 19-year-old defender Colwill, who spent last season at Huddersfield Town also on loan.
Head coach Graham Potter said: “Levi has enormous potential and has already shown his ability last season in the Championship and with England at various age group levels up to under-21s.
“I am really looking forward to working with him on the training pitch, and in matches over the course of the season.
“He plays mostly at centre-back, but has also played on the left as a full-back, and he is a player who is comfortable on the ball.”
Cucurella becomes Chelsea's third major signing of the summer following the arrivals of Raheem Sterling for a total fee of £47.5m from City and Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli for £33m. They have also signed teenager Carney Chukwuemeka from Aston Villa and Gabriel Slonina from Chicago Fire.
Cucurella's arrival at Stamford Bridge is likely to result in Marcos Alonso moving on with Barcelona reportedly keen to sign the 31-year-old.
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