Manchester City wanted to sign Marc Cucurella from Brighton & Hove Albion to replace Benjamin Mendy and Oleksandr Zinchenko over the summer but opted against paying his £50m+ asking price.
The Sky Blues brought in Sergio Gomez from RSC Anderlecht for considerably less money, though he’s not had the best start to life in Manchester. Cucurella’s move to Chelsea hasn’t gone to plan either, so Pep Guardiola might feel he’s dodged a bullet.
The 24-year-old has made 18 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea this season, notching two assists. He’s fifth in the squad for tackles (1.7 per game on average) but 15th for interceptions (0.5).
Guardiola wanted the Spanish international for his attacking threat at left-back, but he’s 14th for chances created (0.5), 12th for successful dribbles (0.4) and 9th for average passes (40.3), though he is 4th for accurate crosses (0.8), so he’s not had the best start to life in London. And being left out of Spain’s World Cup squad will hurt as international aspirations were behind him leaving Brighton in the first place.
Cucurella has been shifted between left-back, centre-back and left wing-back this season while being recently dropped by Graham Potter in Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United, so his manager isn’t happy with his form either.
The 24-year-old has been substituted on or substituted off in eight of his 13 Premier League games, so it wasn’t the worst thing for City to lose out to Chelsea.
In other news, are Man City still paying Benjamin Mendy? What’s the latest on his trial?
The Vital Network is unique from other football content providers as all the sites are run by the fans, for the fans. We are looking for a writer to join our Manchester City site. If you can write well-constructed, thought-provoking opinion pieces alongside reporting on current events and breaking news then I want to hear from you. Email paddy@snack-media.com.
Can you name these Man City players from the 2000s? Test your knowledge, take the quiz and challenge your friends and family to beat your score