Barcelona and Atlético Madrid are battling for Chelsea‘s Marc Cucurella this summer.
Last month, Sport Witness relayed news the left-back is a dream target for the Madrid club, who missed out on him on two occasions in the past.
On Thursday, we covered claims from Spain that Barcelona sporting director Deco made contact with him in May. The 28-year-old feels his time at Chelsea has come to an end.
As well as the fullback, the two Spanish clubs are battling for Bernardo Silva, who has left Manchester City. Hansi Flick’s side are also keen on signing Atlético star Julián Alvarez.
La Liga giants fighting for Chelsea star
Marc Cucurella, Bernardo Silva and Julián Alvarez are on the front page of Friday’s Mundo Deportivo. ‘Super duel’ between Barcelona and Atlético Madrid for the duo and the former will also try to sign the striker.
Diego Simeone’s side desperately want to sign the Chelsea player this summer. However, they face competition from Barcelona, who have emerged as an option for the 27-year-old.
He graduated from the Catalan club’s academy but failed to secure a spot in their first team.
The newspaper state: ‘The prospect of returning home as an established player outweighs other offers’.
The La Liga winners, however, have to sell Alejandro Balde first to make room for the Spain international.
Another report from Mundo Deportivo focus on Los Rojiblancos’ efforts to try and sign Cucurella.
Bayer Leverkusen’s Alejandro Grimaldo is also on their list, but the Blues man is the main left-back target. It won’t be easy to sign the former Brighton man because Barcelona and Manchester City are also keen.
The Spanish media value Cucurella at €50m while claims from the UK insist Chelsea want €70m. If this were to be true, Atlético won’t be able to match the asking price.
The Blues are aware the Spaniard wants to return to his country and suspect he ‘might be on the move’ this summer. In other words, their hope of retaining him is diminishing.
Chelsea appointed Xabi Alonso as the new manager, and he would have the final say on his compatriot’s future.
Contract, value and agent info
Marc Cucurella has just over two years left on his contract and is now valued at €50m by Transfermarkt.
The Chelsea player is represented by Dupla Piqué & Domínguez, an agency owned by agents Aleix Piqué and Álvaro Domínguez.