Marc Cucurella with Chelsea colleagues in training.placeholder image
Marc Cucurella with Chelsea colleagues in training. | AFP via Getty Images
Wayne Rooney praised the Chelsea defender for his 'absolutely incredible' showing against Barcelona on Tuesday night.
Chelsea secured a huge European coup on Tuesday night with a convincing 3-0 win over La Liga giants FC Barcelona at Stamford Bridge, with 18-year-old Willian Estevao stealing the show.
The fixture put two of the footballing world’s most exciting wonderkids against one another with Euro 2024 and La Liga champion Lamine Yamal in action for Barcelona. It was Estevao who stole the headlines with a goal and superb performance, making it three goals in his last three Champions League games.
Estevao does have a Blues teammate to thank for keeping Yamal quiet and that is full-back Marc Cucurella. The defender knew his opposite man well thanks to time with the Spanish national side and looked comfortable when dealing with his trickery.
Chelsea star praised for 9/10 outing against Barcelona
Cucurella was rated a 9/10 by The Express for his almost perfect display with the outlet writing: “Locked down the left flank with ease and posed a danger up front with his crossing. Managed to keep Lamine Yamal quiet in the final third, which is a huge achievement for any defender.”
Premier League legend Wayne Rooney also had praise for the player, and admitted that training with Estevao every day likely helped prepare him for the challenge of Yamal. Rooney said: “Estevao has probably given Cucurella the best lessons in training that he could have in dealing with Lamine Yamal.
“Cucurella was absolutely incredible. I think it’s probably the best performance I’ve seen from a left-back for a long, long time. To do that tonight, what he did, he’s a serious player.”
The 27-year-old has become one of Chelsea’s most reliable performers and a key cog in the Blues’ machine. Cucurella has started all but one Premier League match this season - and came on at half-time against Brentford when left out of the XI.
Chelsea star has already signed ‘hush hush’ contract extension
Chelsea paid £63 million to sign Cucurella from Brighton in August 2022 with the player putting pen to paper on a six-year contract. That deal would have expired in 2028 and, given his performances this term, Chelsea supporters may have been worried about potential suitors.
However, over the summer, Cucurella signed an improved deal with the club. For some reason, that contract was kept somewhat ‘hush hush’ by the Blues with no official announcement but transfer guru Fabrizio Romano reiterated that it had happened in an update last night.
Romano said on YouTube: “I can confirm that Cucurella signed an improved contract in August. It was never announced but I can confirm Cucurella is on improved contract.”
The player himself did confirm that an extension had been signed but it is not known how long that deal is for. When asked following the 5-1 win over West Ham in August, he said: "Yes, it's done. We already did it. I'm very happy, the club gave me the confidence and I'm very happy to be here. Hopefully I will have a great year."
In other news, Chelsea legend John Terry names the two teams left in Premier League title race as Liverpool and Man City slip up.
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