Chelsea legend Frank Leboeuf seems to absolutely adore one player at his former club right now.
Enzo Maresca has some very good footballers in his squad, including the likes of Cole Palmer and Pedro Neto.
Palmer could not convert his penalty past Mads Hermansen in Chelsea’s 1-0 victory over Leicester City over the weekend but is still the team’s top scorer.
Neto has also done a good job leading the line for the Blues in the absence of Nicolas Jackson, but neither player appears to be Leboeuf‘s favourite at the moment.
Photo by Harry Murphy - Danehouse/Getty Images
Photo by Harry Murphy – Danehouse/Getty Images
Marc Cucurella is now Frank Leboeuf’s idol
Rather than Palmer or Neto, Marc Cucurella is the Chelsea star Leboeuf really loves right now.
It was the defender who scored the Blues’ winning goal against Leicester, firing the ball into Hermansen’s net in the second half.
Tod Boehly had high hopes for Cucurella when he first joined Chelsea, and the 26-year-old is not disappointing.
He has been so good that Leboeuf, a Chelsea legend, has described him as his “idol”.
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Speaking about Cucurella on ESPN FC after the Leicester game, the former World Cup winner said: “I want to call somebody because I was very harsh — no maybe hard on him — like two years ago, but Cucurella, Cucu the saviour! I call him Cucu the saviour.
“The guy scores four goals or three goals since January, he made two assists, he became my idol. I mean, that guy is amazing, defensively, offensively. Cucu the saviour, I love you!”
Cucurella’s goal was not a shock to Jadon Sancho, who has seen the left-back do the same thing at Cobham.
Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images
Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images
Marc Cucurella on where he can still improve
Cucurella has been great of late, especially going forward. However, the former Brighton & Hove Albion star knows he can still get better.
When Cucurella spoke about improving after Chelsea’s latest win, he said: “I’m really happy. I think it’s a long process, I needed to work really hard in my bad moments. Maybe something I need to improve is being more clinical in the final third.”
The club can be happy with him, though. The progress that the Spain international has shown since he arrived from the Amex in 2022 has been spectacular.
Once the subject of boos from some Chelsea fans, Cucurella is now a favourite among the Stamford Bridge faithful. Even a club legend like Leboeuf has taken a liking to him, having previously been one of his biggest critics. Cucurella really has turned his Chelsea career around.