Newcastle United have named Chelsea’s left-back Marc Cucurella on their transfer list as the Magpies look to make a more competitive squad for next season’s Champions League.
Chelsea, (h/t Express) who signed the Spanish left-back from Brighton & Hove Albion, have struggled in his first season, and Mauricio Pochettino is ready to sell him.
The Blues are also ready to sell the former Brighton player for half of what they paid when they signed him from the Seagulls. That just shows how much the 24-year-old’s stocks have fallen.
That, or Chelsea are desperate to balance the books. Cucurella could join the likes of Mason Mount, Hakim Ziyech, Edouard Mendy, and Kai Havertz, who could leave in the transfer window, as the west Londoners hope to trim their squad by the start of next season.
The Blues endured one of the most dreadful seasons as they finished in the bottom half of the table, which also saw the sacking of two managers – Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter.
The Argentine boss will have many tasks on his plate, and Chelsea will also need to add a midfielder and a striker for the upcoming campaign. It is important we have enough space on the wage bill for that. Selling deadwood would be the way to go.
Cucurella has struggled to maintain his Brighton form at Chelsea, and he may be sold if the Magpies make a compelling offer for him. But if he is let go, we have to ensure that we bring in a proper replacement.
Otherwise, we risk creating a similar situation as we did in the right-back area. Reece James has had no competition there and suffered from injury issues in recent months, leading to some really odd replacements in that area, including playing the likes of Raheem Sterling and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Lewis Hall has emerged as a dependable player, but it could still be risky to sell Cucurella given Ben Chilwell has been injury-prone and Lewis is still young. Therefore, we will have to consider whether selling him is the right move given that the Spanish left-back is still young and could grow under Pochettino next season.
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