France squad caught napping by Benzema withdrawal
FootballMarc Cucurella Reveals Airport Story of How He Joined Chelsea
- Chelsea signed Spanish left-back Marc Cucurella from Brighton for a reported £63million
- Manchester City were also interested in Cucurella but it was Chelsea who got the deal done
- Cucurella has now revealed the dramatic details of how he came to join Stamford Bridge
Chelsea were on a spending spree in the summer transfer window, despite a change of ownership which put doubts over the club's summer business.
Spanish left-back Marc Cucurella was one of the players Todd Boehly splashed the cash on, paying £63m to Brighton for the hardworking full-back.
The transfer dragged a bit despite several reports on social media that the deal was done, including from trusted transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.
Brighton provided a little twist to the tale by releasing a statement hours after the transfer was reportedly confirmed, an act Chelsea clapped back on after the signing was confirmed.
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Cucurella in his own words
Cucurella has revealed to Chelsea 5th Stand app, quoted by Chelsea News, how he was at the airport departing on holiday when his agent informed him of a call from Todd Boehly.
''I was sat waiting at the airport to go to Ibiza with my friends and family, and my agent told me he had a call in the morning from an American number… We decided to send a text instead, to be sure. It was the Chelsea owner, Todd Boehly.''
Cucurella called his wife and informed him of Chelsea's interest, but boarded the plane to Ibiza regardless of his agent's instruction not to.
"I called my wife, and I said: 'wow, Chelsea are meeting to discuss signing me'. My agent told me not to get on the plane; he said stay in the airport for now, but I didn't see these messages.
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FootballCucurella had put his phone away at the time and went out of contact with his agent.
"So I boarded the plane… I signed for Chelsea."
Cucurella's message to Nigerian fans
Sports Brief earlier reported on Cucurella's message to Chelsea fans in Nigeria, after meeting the country's comedian Funnybone in Zagreb.
Cucurella met the comedian after the Blues' opening day Champions League loss to Dinamo Zagreb and despite the loss, he said hello to Chelsea fans in Nigeria.
The loss led to the sacking of the beloved Thomas Tuchel, who was replaced with Graham Potter, Cucurella's former boss at Brighton.