“I’d like to play at the Camp Nou before retiring”: Premier League defender dreams Barcelona | OneFootball

Barcelona have severally tried, and failed, to replace the services of Jordi Alba at left-back. The Spaniard is one of the world’s best fullbacks, and as such supplanting such a figure was always going to be a tough task. Over the past few years the Catalans have bought Junior Firpo, and sought out David Alaba, and both were failed projects.

One player who was rumoured to replace him, given his origins in the academy, was Marc Cucurella. In a recent interview for DAZN (h/t BarcaCentre), he hinted at the possibility of a return to Catalunya. He said “I made my debut with Barça but I could never play at the Camp Nou and that is something that I would like to do before retiring.”

At the moment he plays for Brighton and Hove Albion in the English Premier League. Cucurella has settled into life with Graham Potter’s forces, and is performing quite well for the men in white and blue.

The former Blaugrana is now an undisputed starter, and has set the Premier League ablaze with his talent.

It is performances like these that can make Barcelona question just what could have been. Between 2017 and 2019, Cucurella was at the club but only as a mostly unused substitute. This is despite his tactical profile perfectly suiting that of Barcelona in every way, shape and form.

There is still time for Barcelona to re-sign him. His value, as per Transfermarkt, is at €20 million, and this is theoretically affordable for the Catalan club in the future. As Alba’s days run out, somebody will have to take his spot in the team. As far as Cucurella is concerned, he hopes this to be him one day.