Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella has said the Premier League club “need stability” if they’re to achieve success like he’s seen with his country, Spain.
Left-back Cucurella starred for Spain as they won Euro 2024 this summer, but he’s found it more difficult at club level since joining Chelsea in a €65 million ($72.2m) deal from Brighton in 2022.
The Spain international has started all three of Chelsea’s Premier League games so far this season under new coach Enzo Maresca.
“I’m happy, I think the coach we have is very good, he has very clear ideas,” Cucurella said in an interview with the news agency EFE. “We’ve come from years of changes of coaches, let’s see if we can get stability without many changes, and that the manager can transmit his ideas.
“We need stability, we have very high-level players and hopefully we can have that patience that is needed, that calm, so that everything goes well. We have the level, we just need stability and for the coaches and players to be allowed to work in order to do something important.”
Chelsea’s busy transfer market attracted attention this summer, signing 13 new players including João Félix, Pedro Neto and Jadon Sancho.
“It’s true that it’s difficult,” Cucurella said, when asked if so many arrivals and departures made it hard to build morale.
“Here [with Spain] everything is much easier to create a good atmosphere. At Chelsea I try, but it’s a time of change in which many players leave and others come.”
Cucurella became a cult hero for Spain fans — and popular figure among teammates — during the Euros.
“I try to give my best,” he said. “One of the keys to success at the Euro was the good group we had. In these tournaments you’re together all day, we have to put up with each other and if we hadn’t gotten along, it would have been difficult. Creating a good atmosphere comes naturally to me.”
Cucurella said he believes João Félix can “contribute a lot” on his return to Stamford Bridge, after a difficult time at Atlético Madrid.
“He showed a good level during the months he was there [last time],” Cucurella said. “He was unlucky because he was sent off in his first game for an unfortunate, unintentional action, then he had many opportunities, but he’s a player who can contribute a lot to us.
“In the Premier [League] there are many more spaces, he can move around and hopefully he will help us a lot.”