Frank Leboeuf slams Chelsea for ‘crazy’ signing of Marc Cucurella: ‘Not good enough!’

The former Chelsea defender has urged Graham Potter to take decisive action
Matt Verri7 February 2023

Chelsea’s decision to sign Marc Cucurella for £62million in the summer was “crazy”, according to former Blues defender Frank Leboeuf.

Cucurella arrived at Stamford Bridge from Brighton at the end of August, a month before Graham Potter made the same move to take charge of Chelsea.

The Spaniard has started 16 Premier League matches for the club so far this season, getting the nod over Ben Chilwell in the early weeks of the campaign despite struggling for form.

Chilwell’s hamstring injury, picked up in November, solidified Cucurella’s place in the side, but the left-back has still been unable to regularly reproduce the kind of performances seen when he was in a Brighton shirt.

With Chilwell now back and available, Potter has a key selection decision to make. Leboeuf believes Cucurella should immediately make way for the English defender.

“Hopefully Reece James and Ben Chilwell will go back into fitness as soon as possible because we need them,” he told ESPN.

“We don’t want to see Cucurella anymore. With all due respect to a man that I don’t know, the player is not good enough for Chelsea. It’s as simple as that.

“It’s crazy that they signed him for £60m or £70m, but we can see that he doesn’t belong to this level.”

Jamie Carragher was among those to criticise Cucurella last month after Chelsea were beaten by Manchester City at Stamford Bridge, with the pundit claiming the left-back “doesn’t want to defend”.

Potter has since been asked about Cucurella’s form and alluded to issues off the pitch that have had an impact.

“Marc had a lot to deal with in terms of how you settle into a team, how you settle into a club, into a new group,” Potter said. “I think it’s been challenging for him.’

“Family-wise - that has been difficult for him as well. So there’s many factors. Sometimes it’s simplistic. You just see the guy on the pitch and you have a verdict on him, but there’s all sorts of things going on in his life.

“Obviously I know Marc well. I know Mark at his best and he is a top player.”

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