Chelsea star takes swipe at critics who ‘kept coming’ for him in difficult spell

Chelsea star Marc Cucurella has taken a swipe at the critics who ‘kept coming’ for him during his difficult spell when he first joined the club.

Cucurella endured a tough start at Stamford Bridge and was in danger of flopping after moving to the west London club in 2022 from Brighton in a £55m deal.

The 26-year-old faced lots of criticism from pundits, but has since turned his form around and has impressed this season under head coach Enzo Maresca.

That comes after Cucurella played a key role in helping Spain to glory at Euro 2024 in the summer and the left-back has now reflected on his time at Chelsea.

‘I had been at humbler teams before Chelsea and I got there at a time of change, a difficult time, with lots of players, lots of coaches,’ Cucurella told The Guardian.

‘It was [like it was] all my fault; they kept coming for me. People see the price and think you’re a machine that’s going to score 50 goals and provide 50 assists.

‘That’s business between clubs: they agree [the fee], nothing to do with me.’

Cucurella also spoke about the high turnover of head coaches under Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, who replaced previous owner Roman Abramovich in 2022.

‘I’ve had more coaches at Chelsea than in my career,’ the Spain international added.

‘[Thomas] Tuchel, [Graham] Potter, [Frank] Lampard, [Mauricio] Pochettino, now Enzo [Maresca].

‘And Bruno for a game. I wasn’t with Tuchel for long; we could hardly get to know each other.

‘Then Graham Potter came, who I’d been with at Brighton, but it was hard. He had a lot of players, he didn’t quite find the style.

‘And with Lampard too… well, lots of things.’