Chelsea have agreed a deal with Real Madrid, who will sign Marc Cucurella this summer, but Xabi Alonso has been told he’s making a mistake in letting the full-back leave
Xabi Alonso has been told he should’ve kept Marc Cucurella with the left-back agreeing a deal to move to Real Madrid.
The Blues will bank £51million having struck a deal with the Spanish giants for a player who has made noise about moving on. Cucurella endured a slow start at Stamford Bridge but has gradually come good and was a stalwart for Spain when they claimed Euros glory two years ago.
That helped him establish himself at Chelsea, but he will now team up with Jose Mourinho at the Bernabeu. He is one of several players to express a desire to move on, Enzo Fernandez another, but Joe Cole insists keeping them is more important than the money they’ll generate.
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Alonso will begin his Chelsea stint this summer and has been told by the ex-Blues winger that he should’ve offloaded other players if it was funds he wanted – but confessed this current model seems to be designed to make money, not win silverware.
He told the Daily Mail: “If I’m Xabi Alonso, I want to keep both of them. I’d rather sell four or five other players to get that money in. But that’s if you’re using a model where you’re trying to win trophies.”
Former Chelsea teammate Ashley Cole, who played the same position as Cucurella, is in agreement and feels Chelsea should’ve retained the player they signed from Brighton.
The ex-England left-back has also cast doubt over Chelsea’s depth now that they’ve decided to let Cucurella leave. Jorrel Hato is next in line, but Cole insists the club now have to go out and find someone who can serve as his deputy.
“I came from Arsenal to Chelsea and I didn’t perform straightaway,” he said. “There was pressure and expectation. Now, Cucurella is someone you should keep. He’s a top performer. I’m not in the dressing room. I don’t know the noise. But if the club want to go forward, you have to keep your top players.
“[Jorrel] Hato has performed well when he’s had the opportunity. But why not keep a top competitive squad to compete? You’re going to be constantly chasing the next one. You sell Cucurella, Hato plays, but then you need a solution as a back-up to him, so who will that be?”
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