Transfer Centre

Tottenham Hotspur 'keeping tabs on Chelsea's Marc Cucurella'

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter | 09 July 2023

Tottenham 'keeping tabs on Chelsea's Marc Cucurella'

Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly keeping an eye on Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella, whom the Blues are 'desperate' to sell this summer.

Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly keeping a close eye on developments surrounding Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella.

The former Barcelona and Getafe defender earned a £55.8m move to Stamford Bridge last year, having made a name for himself at Brighton & Hove Albion under Graham Potter.

However, Cucurella failed to rediscover the form that initially captured the attention of the Blues, setting up just two goals in 33 games during a dismal debut campaign.

Not even the arrival of former Seagulls coach Potter could turn Cucurella's fortunes around, and he also missed the Blues' final seven league fixtures with a muscular injury.

In Cucurella's absence, 18-year-old Lewis Hall impressed when given minutes on the left-hand side, while a fit-again Ben Chilwell moved back above the Spaniard in the pecking order.

Marc Cucurella in action for Chelsea on August 21, 2022 © Reuters

Cucurella's contract with Chelsea runs until the summer of 2028, but there have been suggestions that the 24-year-old could be culled as part of Mauricio Pochettino's mass exodus.

Atletico Madrid - who have already signed Cesar Azpilicueta this summer - were previously linked with an approach, but Cucurella's agent quickly rubbished those reports.

However, with the defender's future still being called into question, Football Transfers claims that Tottenham could be ready to offer Cucurella an escape route from Stamford Bridge.

The Blues are said to be desperate to offload Cucurella ahead of the new season, in spite of the player's desire to stay and right the wrongs of his first season in West London, and Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou views the 24-year-old as the perfect left-back for his new system.

Spurs currently have Ben Davies, Ivan Perisic and Ryan Sessegnon as their left-back options, but Perisic is reportedly set to terminate his contract with the Lilywhites after just one season.

Ivan Perisic in action for Tottenham Hotspur on October 1, 2022 © Reuters

The injury-plagued Sessegnon could also be allowed to depart, while 30-year-old Davies largely featured as a centre-back last term and is unlikely to be Postecoglou's first choice next season.

Postecoglou is supposedly intrigued by the idea of using Cucurella as an inverted full-back, which would allow his former Brighton teammate Yves Bissouma to push further up the field.

The Spain international was supposedly courted by Tottenham last year under the advice of Fabio Paratici, but Chelsea instead reached an agreement with Brighton, who memorably took to social media to deny reports of the 24-year-old's imminent move to West London.

Tottenham have added three new signings to their ranks already this summer, capturing goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, playmaker James Maddison and re-signing Dejan Kulusevski from Juventus on a permanent deal.

The Lilywhites are also in talks to bring Barcelona's Clement Lenglet back to North London permanently, while the agent of Wolfsburg defender Micky van de Ven has talked up the chances of the Dutchman moving to North London amid reports of discussions between the two clubs.