Chelsea have signed Marc Cucurella from Brighton & Hove Albion for an undisclosed fee, with Levi Colwill joining the Seagulls on season-long loan.
Cucurella’s move to Stamford Bridge comes just one year after the versatile defender arrived in English football with Brighton, during which he produced several impressive performances and was their best tackler en route to ninth place in the Premier League plus scored one goal in 35 appearances.
His performances consequently attracted interest from Manchester City who refused to meet Brighton’s asking price of over £50 million, which allowed Chelsea to swoop in and sign the Spaniard who can play at left-back and centre-back.
As part of the deal, Chelsea have paid Brighton a club-record transfer fee of a reported £62 million consisting of a £55m initial transfer fee plus £7m in add-ons and Colwill on a season-long loan.
Speaking about his move to Chelsea, Cucurella said: “I’m really happy. It’s a big opportunity for me to join one of the best clubs in the world and I’m going to work hard to be happy here and help the team.”
Chelsea Chairman and co-owner, Todd Boehly added: “Marc is an elite defender of proven Premier League quality and he further strengthens our squad going into the new season.
“We continue to work on and off the pitch, and we’re delighted Marc will be a part of the present and future at Chelsea.”
Brighton Head Coach, Graham Potter meanwhile said that the club didn’t wish to sell Cucurella but respected his wish of having “… the opportunity of playing Champions League football with a view to accelerating his progress to Spain’s World Cup squad.”
Cucurella began his career at Barcelona where he graduated through their youth academy after initially joining RCD Espanyol, with his senior debut coming for Barcelona’s B team in November 2016 and he went on to score one goal in 54 appearances.
The Spaniard also made one appearance for Barcelona’s first-team during 2017-18 season before he was loaned to Eibar, who then brought him at end of 2018-19 season only to send him on loan to Getafe who signed him permanently in June 2020.
Cucurella went on to net four goals in total in 84 appearances across two full seasons at Getafe before he made a single appearance last season, only to be signed by Brighton before the end of the summer transfer window.
Colwill meanwhile graduated through Chelsea’s youth academy since he joined at the age of nine years-old and spent last season on loan at Huddersfield, where he scored twice in 32 appearances for the Championship team.
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