**Chelsea legend John Terry has paid tribute to Marc Cucurella following his outstanding performance against Barcelona midweek.**
The 27-year-old kept Lamine Yamal [**firmly shackled**](https://chelseanews.com/blog/chelsea-player-ratings-barcelona/) all evening, and speaking on Wednesday, Terry said that Cucurella epitomises everything he wants in a player who represents the Blues:
“I also have to speak about Cucurella, how good was he last night? I’m going to put it out there. He is one of the best left-backs in world football at the moment.”
“He is everything I want to see in a Chelsea player at the moment, aggression, great one vs one, a threat going forwards, the threat he shows in every aspect of his game is what I love about him as a player.”
Cucurella has had an outstanding 18 months
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The defender’s turnaround in fortunes is an object lesson as to why you shouldn’t judge someone too soon.
Cucurella struggled to settle into his new surroundings initially and many felt that the £63m paid to secure his services from Brighton in the summer of 2022 was a complete waste of money.
However, the fullback has been one of Chelsea’s most consistent players since the start of last season, and he rarely has a poor game.
Chelsea fans will hope he can repeat his display against Arsenal
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Cucurella won’t have many tougher weeks in terms of his one-on-one duels with opponents. Just 5 days after going toe-to-toe with Yamal, he will be facing Bukayo Saka.
While most would argue that the Arsenal winger doesn’t quite have the same level of ability as the Barca superstar, Cucurella will still be seriously tested.
If he can replicate what he did on Tuesday night this weekend, then the Spanish international will feel he can get the better of Saka as well.
[**Read more about the Chelsea First Team Squad for 2025/26 here**](https://chelseanews.com/blog/chelsea-first-team-squad/)