Chelsea have confirmed a deal to sign left-back Marc Cucurella from Brighton in a deal worth more than £60m.
The 24-year-old, who has agreed a six-year deal, registered in time to feature against Everton on Saturday Night Football, live on Sky Sports.
Chelsea took a swipe at Brighton when they announced the deal, repeating the format of their tweet earlier this week denying reports that a deal had been reached for the defender.
It follows the arrivals of Man City’s Raheem Sterling (£47.5m), Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly (£33m), Chicago Fire’s Gabriel Slonina (£12m) and Aston Villa’s Carney Chukwuemeka ( £20m) for a total spend of £172m to date.
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Cucurella will compete for minutes at left-back with Ben Chilwell, who was signed from Leicester for £50m two seasons ago, but head coach Thomas Tuchel says his new signing provides versatility in the backline.
“Help for [fit-again] Ben to escape the pressure of “I have to deliver and we absolutely need you now,” Tuchel said.
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“We also have Marcos Alonso and Emerson but Marc is the option in that position and he can play very well in the back three. He has the profile of Azpi (Cesar Azpilicueta) with a left foot. He gives us a lot of options.
“Ben is very ambitious, he couldn’t wait to get back into team training. He seems to need a bit more time to adapt to the pace and the physicality of the game itself, which is normal. It’s a demanding league, and we have take care of him and don’t throw him in.”
Manchester City tried to sign Cucurella but were unable to satisfy Brighton’s valuation of the Spanish international.
Image: Man City were unsuccessful in their attempts to sign Cucurella
Cucurella’s transfer is Brighton’s record sale, surpassing the £50m Arsenal paid for centre-back Ben White last summer.
It is also a record fee for a full-back, matching the £60m deal City agreed to bring Joao Cancelo from Juventus to the Etihad in 2019.
Chelsea business is far from over, with the Blues working on a deal for Leicester defender Wesley Fofana.
Image: Wesley Fofana is a Chelsea target
It is also understood that they are candidates for Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong, a priority target for Manchester United this summer.
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