Former Chelsea manager claims there was “real dislike” for £62m defender at Stamford Bridge | OneFootball

Graham Potter’s grand “give us a job” media roadshow goes on, and he was on Sky Sports’ coverage of the game between Chelsea and Arsenal today.

Post game, he focused on a player he knows well. Marc Cucurella played for Potter at Brighton and then at Chelsea, and was great today keeping Bukayo Saka quiet.

Potter praised his efforts, and also gave some interesting insight on how tough it had been for the left back to settle after his move.

You can see Potter speaking in the clip embedded here:

Marc Cucurella warms up in the Conference League. (Photo by Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images)

Potter hails Cucurella attitude and commitment

“Delighted for Marc Cucurella, because he’s had a tough start to his career here at Chelsea,” Potter explained.

“He came in with maybe a high fee, and at a time when the team wasn’t functioning as well as maybe what he was used to. He had to take some stick here at Stamford Bridge, it was quite hostile.

He was then asked how difficult that had been for Cucurella and Potter himself:

“There was a period of time where he was almost trying to think: if the results aren’t going so well, you want to do as much as you can to have the crowd with you. But it was obvious there was a real dislike for Marc here. So it goes into your thinking about whether to put him in,” the former Blues coach explained.

“I remember playing him against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, I think he was man of the match. It’s a credit to him, he’s got the character. You’re not going to get a better person in terms of how he is with teammates and how good he is around the place, and how he fights every single day. That performance against Saka require intensity and commitment every single day, and he’s been rewarded to that.”