Chelsea sold a World Cup winner for £52m. Real Madrid think they got a bargain.
Marc Cucurella arrived at the Bernabéu weeks after lifting the World Cup. Madrid did not have to fight for him.
Marc Cucurella has joined Real Madrid from Chelsea in a reported £52m deal, arriving at the Bernabéu weeks after winning the World Cup with Spain.
He is 28, which is the number that made the price possible. A left-back at the peak of his powers and the wrong side of the age at which clubs pay a premium is exactly the player a selling club prices to move.
Filling a position, not a shirt
Real Madrid’s left side has been a recurring problem rather than an occasional one, and Cucurella solves it with a player who has already proven he can do the job in a league that punishes full-backs who cannot.
He is one of six arrivals, and one of only two — with Yan Diomandé — for whom Real Madrid paid a fee of consequence.
The Chelsea view
£52m for a 28-year-old with a World Cup medal is defensible business. Whether it looks that way in two years depends entirely on who Chelsea bought with it.
Fee per TeamTalk and GiveMeSport. Terms not disclosed by either club.
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