Chelsea have confirmed the signing of Brighton & Hove Albion defender Marc Cucurella. The Spaniard joins for a total fee of around £63 million, according to Fabrizio Romano, and the deal has also seen Blues defender Levi Colwill join the Seagulls on loan for the 2022/23 season.
The young left was keenly followed by Manchester City who are searching for a replacement after Oleksandr Zinchenko’s transfer to Arsenal. However, Chelsea have won the race to his signature after meeting Brighton’s asking price.
Chelsea Confirm Signing of Marc Cucurella
CLUB STATEMENT: MARC CUCURELLA.
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.
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 5, 2022
Deal Breakdown
The deal includes a guaranteed sum of £56 million and an additional sum of £7 million based on additional clauses. This marks a substantial profit for Brighton, who bought the Spaniard from Getafe for £15 million last year.
It continues Brighton’s trend of clever business in the transfer market. The former Barcelona product was in a rich vein of form in the Premier League last season with his consistency and defensive work rate one of the factors behind Brighton’s top-half finish.
Levi Colwill, who played in the Championship on loan at Huddersfield Town last season, has moved the other way on loan from Chelsea to Brighton. His signature was considered an important cog in Brighton’s acceptance of Chelsea’s bid.
Albion are delighted to announce the signing of @Levi_Colwill on loan. 🙌
🤝 @FirstTouchGames // #BHAFC 🔵⚪️
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) August 5, 2022
This also continues Chelsea’s summer transfer spree under the Todd Boehly era. They have acquired Raheem Sterling from Manchester City, Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli, Carney Chukwuemeka from Aston Villa and Gabriel Slonina from Chicago Fire which, together with Cucurella, pushes their total spending of this transfer window beyond a mammoth £150 million.
They are also expected to compete with Manchester United for the transfer of Barcelona’s Frankie de Jong which could see the spending flash past the £200 million figure.
