Why key Man City decision triggered Todd Boehly to buy Marc Cucurella as interim Chelsea sporting director
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Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly has revealed the key reason why a decision was made to sign Marc Cucurella amid interest from Manchester City.
Cucurella, 27, was signed back in August 2022 from Brighton & Hove Albion in a deal worth more than £60 million.
It was a difficult transfer to negotiate with Brighton, who were determined to keep hold of the left-back, with Manchester City also in the race to bring him to the Etihad.
But Chelsea found a way and Cucurella put pen to paper at Stamford Bridge, which has seen him gone on to win the Conference League and Club World Cup during his time in west London.
He was signed under Boehly's time as the club's Sporting Director, with Chelsea unable to convince Michael Edwards to steer the club's ship after the Boehly-Clearlake Capital takeover in May 2022.
Chelsea would eventually go on to bring in Paul Winstanley and Laurence Steward, who both currently remain at the club, to become co-Sporting Directors.
With Boehly's little experience in the football world, he had to adapt and manage his way through - learning on the job.
Now, during a panel session at iConnections, the American has revealed how Man City's interest triggered Chelsea's decision to go all-out to sign Cucurella three-and-a-half years ago.
"Having taken over in the circumstances that we did, basically the whole management team left," Boehly said.
"I was stuck being interim Sporting Director for a summer, having no idea what made a good football player. But knowing that Marc Cucurella, if Man City wanted him, I want him. It was really simple that way."
Matt Debono leads the editorial team which covers Chelsea On SI. He has witnessed Chelsea win it all, whilst also featuring on ITV News, SPORTbible and various other publications.