Gary Neville has been discussing Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella after his inclusion in Spain’s squad for Euro 2024.
Marc Cucurella started in Spain’s first game against Croatia, helping his country to win 3-0.
The left-back finished last season strongly for Chelsea.
His former manager Mauricio Pochettino started using him as an inverted full-back, and the 25-year-old delivered in that role.
He even managed to grab an assist in Chelsea’s penultimate fixture of the campaign, a 2-1 win against his old side Brighton & Hove Albion, though his cross for the goal came from a more traditional full-back position on the pitch.
Gary Neville’s Marc Cucurella assessment
While Cucurella’s performances may have improved towards the end of last season, Neville still does not think the Spain international is worth his price tag.
Chelsea paid £62m to bring him in from Brighton back in 2022.
However, the former Manchester United captain does seem to like Cucurella’s aggressiveness and tenacity.
Speaking about the Chelsea star before Spain’s victory over Croatia on ITV (15/06/2024 at 16:11), Neville said: “He has not been convincing at Chelsea. He played a few games towards the end of the season.
“He is aggressive, he is tenacious, he is a busy little full-back. That price-tag still, to be fair, astounds everybody to this day.”
Marc Cucurella can justify his price tag next season
Cucurella has probably not lived up to his transfer fee since arriving at Stamford Bridge.
Playing behind Ben Chilwell and Levi Colwill at times, he has not always had the opportunity to show his worth.
However, next season, Cucurella has the chance to nail down the left-back spot.
Again, the former Brighton man was used as an inverted full-back in Pochettino’s last days as Chelsea manager, something Enzo Maresca utilised during his time as Leicester City manager.
It could see the Italian give Cucurella the nod over Chilwell and Colwill. And if that does happens, Cucurella may be able to show more consistency and prove that maybe Chelsea were right to spend over £60m on him.