Despite him only leaving Chelsea in 2024, the landscape of the club now looks completely different from when Mauricio Pochettino was in charge.
The Argentine spent just a season at the helm at Stamford Bridge, leading the Blues to two cup finals before he was replaced by Enzo Maresca.
Pochettino was the benefactor of some big-name signings coming into the club. His first summer in charge saw Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia and Cole Palmer all join.
Marc Cucurella is Chelsea’s most-underrated player. Discuss 👇
They were added to a quality squad already there. Enzo Fernandez and Marc Cucurella, both crucial players now, had already been brought in by this point.
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It is easy to forget that there was a time when the Spaniard was seen as surplus to requirements at the club, and he was very close to moving on loan to Manchester United.
Pochettino has spoken about this moment on the ‘High Performance Podcast’, and stated that he has since become the best full-back in England.
“We create an environment that the player like Malo Gusto that was really young and came from not to play from Lyon finished playing his best.
“Cucurella didn’t play from the beginning and the club wanted to sell him, became the best full-back in the Premier League. Conor Gallagher, Enzo Fernandez, Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke, Jackson, plenty of players, they grew through all of this.”
Harsh on Santos, but at home, let’s get as many attacking players on the pitch as possible 💪
Predicted Chelsea line-up for Leeds
Cucurella has made himself undroppable
Ian Wright described Cucurella as a ‘brilliant’ player after watching him against Wolves at the weekend, and it is noticeable how far the club’s performance drops when he is not in the side.
Under both Maresca and Liam Rosenior, the Spaniard has been a near ever-present. Cucurella notched up 70 games for club and country across 12 months.
The opportunities to rest him are few and far between, and they will need Jorrel Hato to start proving he can be a reliable option in the backline.
For now though, Chelsea must push with Cucurella, and start him when they are back in action against Leeds tonight.
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