Report: How Chelsea helped Brighton get last laugh over Man City with £63m deal | OneFootball

Marc Cucurella has quickly become something of a cult hero at Chelsea, completing a journey from derided outcast all the way across the spectrum.

The Daily Mail had a really nice piece yesterday from Kieran Gill which covered that journey, and had some interesting anecdotes along the way.

Brighton get the last laugh over £63m deal again

They go all the way back to Cucurella’s £63m move from Brighton to Stamford Bridge. Manchester City’s interest was strongly reported at the time, and it was only once they backed off that the Blues moved in. According to this story, City’s negotiators broke off talks when the Seagulls asked for more than £50m.

“They told their Brighton counterparts they would congratulate them at the next Premier League board meeting if they manage to secure more than £50m for their asset.”

Well, just a couple of weeks later, Chelsea had paid not just £50m but a £56m fee rising to £63m. We wonder if that congratulating ever took place? And will there ever be a transfer negotiation where Brighton don’t have the last laugh?

Cucurella has another huge game in his Chelsea career today

We don’t want to put too much pressure on Cucurella today – after all it was his goal that won us our game against Manchester United last week, and he’s more than done his part to help get us within touching distance of the top 5 with his performances since the turn of the year.

But we need all our leaders to stand up and be counted if we want to turn around our stinking away form and get a win, and Cucurella has really made himself into one of those players over an unbelievably impressive 14 months which has seen a turnaround almost unlike any we’ve seen for a player in such a short period of time.