Chelsea dismissed offer from Premier League behemoths for struggling defensive star

Chelsea rejected Manchester City approach to sign Marc Cucurella last January

According to the Metro, Premier League champions Manchester City made an approach for Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella in the January transfer window, but the Blues rejected their advances.

Chelsea spent a mammoth £62 million to sign the left-back from Brighton & Hove Albion in the summer of 2022. The Spanish player, who has struggled to remain a consistent starter, has yet to feature in the Premier League for the Blues under Mauricio Pochettino. In fact, his lone senior appearance this season has come in the Carabao Cup,

The 25-year-old appeared in 24 games last season during Chelsea’s underwhelming 2022-23 campaign where they finished 12^th in the Premier League. Meanwhile, this season, he has only appeared in the Carabao Cup in Chelsea’s 2-1 win over AFC Wimbledon.

The arrival of Mauricio Pochettino has seen him deploy different approaches, with Ben Chilwell operating as a left wing-back and Ian Maatsen also functioning from the wings. Cucurella was on the verge of joining Manchester United on loan in the summer transfer window, but the deal never transpired due to several reasons.

When Pochettino will feel like employing the former Brighton player is still unknown. Despite having a bad season, the 25-year-old should be given a chance to disprove his detractors, and it appears that the Argentine’s use of Chilwell as a wing-back has produced mixed results.

Joining City might have benefited Cucurella given that Pep Guardiola has used Nathan Ake as a left-back despite the Dutchman being the centre-back. But his move could have been good for City, as Ake could have been put into his natural position, and maybe the Spanish left-back might have improved under Guardiola. The treble winners appear to not have a natural left-back since the departure of Joao Cancelo.

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However, Cucurella’s future at Chelsea appears to be in limbo since the Blues were prepared to loan him to Manchester United. Due to the fact that Chilwell and Maatsen have been mostly utilised by the new Chelsea boss, it is unclear how much playing time he will get here.