Marc Cucurella: Why Did Chelsea Star Take Aim at His Own Club?

Inflammatory comments from Chelsea’s left back have been widely praised by frustrated fans.

Marc Cucurella surprised Chelsea with his comments. | Robin Jones/Getty Images

Since BlueCo took ownership of Chelsea in 2022, things have looked incredibly different inside Stamford Bridge.

A complete overhaul of nearly everything to do with the club, from players to staff, has been incredibly costly, as officials have pleaded for patience as they build what they insist will be one of the best team’s in the world in the near future.

The problem is, however, that evidence to back up those claims is slim and fans are growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress on the pitch, with the departure of manager Enzo Maresca in January the catalyst for major unrest.

That frustration appears to have spread to the squad. Enzo Fernández has openly admitted his disappointment and confusion towards Maresca’s exit, and left back Marc Cucurella took things to another level as he directly challenged those in charge on their decisions and approach over recent years.

What was actually irking Cucurella? Here’s a look at how things at Stamford Bridge have gone south.

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Enzo Maresca’s Departure

Enzo Maresca’s exit came as an enormous shock. | Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC/Getty Images

“The moment Maresca left, it had a big impact on us,” Cucurella said. “These are decisions taken by the club. If you asked me, I would not have made this decision. To make a change like that, the best thing is to wait until the end of the season. You would give everyone, the players and the new manager, time to get ready, have a full preseason.”

Chelsea fans took issue with two different aspects of the decision to part ways with Maresca in January. Firstly, the circumstances around his exit revolved less around on-field issues and more about a difference of opinion with those above him.

Tensions between Maresca and the board began brewing in the summer when he publicly requested a new center back to replace the injured Levi Colwill. His wish was bluntly rejected.

Reports claim Maresca soon became disenchanted by the approach of the sporting directors and decision-makers, accusing them of interfering with his role as first-team manager. It was clear something had to change and the hierarchy decided it would not be them who shifted approach. If Maresca was not happy with that, he should head for the door—an invitation he begrudgingly accepted.

To make such a change at the halfway point of a season was incredibly bold from Chelsea, who were still locked in a battle for Champions League qualification. As Cucurella points out, any progress made under Maresca, who led the team to Club World Cup glory just six months prior, was destroyed in favor of rebuilding something under a new boss, Liam Rosenior.

Did the decision have to be made at such a crucial point of the season? Only those inside the boardroom will know, but Maresca’s exit forced Chelsea back to square one while the teams around them were as comfortable as ever, creating an obvious disadvantage.

Cucurella, one of the first players to bid farewell to Maresca on social media at the time of his exit, clearly felt as though the timing was wrong—a stance shared by most supporters.

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Transfer Policy

Co-owner Behdad Eghbali (center) has overseen a change in strategy through sporting directors Laurence Stewart (left) and Paul Winstanley (right). | Visionhaus/Getty Images

The biggest surprise of Cucurella’s interview came as he took aim at the club’s divisive transfer policy.

Cucurella joined Chelsea in 2022 during the first summer of the Todd Boehly era. The American co-owner appointed himself sporting director and attempted to recruit players in a similar fashion to the previous iteration of Chelsea.

Hindsight may not be particularly kind to that transfer window, but Boehly flexed his ambition with moves for Cucurella, Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Wesley Fofana, Carney Chukwuemeka and Cesare Casadei, spending big on anything from senior veterans to current stars and future prospects.

Soon after, Boehly’s influence in transfers began to dwindle. By his own admission, this was designed as a positive move as he was not particularly well-informed on the world of soccer, pushing hard for Cucurella simply because the great Pep Guardiola wanted him at Manchester City.

Co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart were hired and Joe Shields, a widely respected youth transfer guru in years gone by, was brought into a senior recruitment role as Chelsea’s approach to transfers was sculpted in the vision of another co-owner, Behdad Eghbali.

Gone were the days of senior signings. Chelsea’s model became a search for the $100 million player before they become one, as young talents with high potential became the priority. Money was thrown around at levels never seen before, with player trading seen as the easiest route to the top.

With that approach came the insistance that experience on the pitch was not as important as potential, and Cucurella became the first player to publicly challenge that stance.

“I understand this is part of the club’s policy, and that they want to take this direction—signing young players and looking to the future,” he stressed. “But, for all of us who are still here and want to win big things, moments like this make you feel discouraged.

“We have a good core of players. The foundations are there. But to fight for major trophies such as the Premier League or the Champions League, you need more. Signing young players only might complicate achieving those goals. Against PSG, we lacked players that had gone through situations like that.

“You need time as well, and I know the young players are the ones that will have the experience in the future. But you need to find the balance between both worlds.”

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How Do Chelsea Fans Feel?

Fans have protested against the ownership. | Martin Pope/Getty Images

Chelsea fans want both success and future planning, and they are entitled to feel that way. Nearly every elite club across the globe operates in such a fashion, prioritizing immediate success while keeping one eye on the future. The board, however, have chosen their side of the fence, which would only appease supporters if it actually turned into results.

Of the long, long list of signings made since 2022, very few can be viewed as undisputed successes. Cole Palmer is the obvious win and you will not find many fans unhappy with the signing of Moisés Caicedo. João Pedro has caught the eye this season and Estêvão is already a fan favorite even if he is yet to have much of a tangible impact.

But for every positive, there are too many negatives. The signings of João Félix, Filip Jørgensen, Axel Disasi and the injury-hit Roméo Lavia are among those to have been scrutinized, while recent arrivals Alejandro Garnacho, Jamie Gittens and Liam Delap are yet to convince.

This recruitment direction is one of several points of frustration for protesting fans, who were surprised to see a senior player in Cucurella echo their voices.

Similarly, the protests would likely be reduced if the vision brought success on the pitch. Chelsea fans were on top of the world as a Maresca-led side dismantled Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final, but humiliation against the same team in the Champions League in March has deleted any goodwill built up from the summer.

Soccer fans are famously not a patient bunch, but Chelsea supporters have questioned how long they can be expected to wait for success from a direction deemed better than the one that led to winning the Champions League just 12 months before BlueCo’s arrival.

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Will Anything Change?

Liam Rosenior is the manager tasked with turning things around. | Richard Martin-Roberts/CameraSport/Getty Images

The board have been under pressure all season, but Cucurella’s comments add a different kind of tension. It is far easier to ignore fans than it is those big names directly responsible for the direction of the club.

Up to this point, Chelsea have shown no signs of backing down from their model. Sporting directors Winstanley and Stewart even signed new contracts in August 2025, as did Shields and director of global recruitment Sam Jewell, as a clear sign of satisfaction with their work.

That was before the distrusting voices began to grow in volume. Anti-Eghbali chants can be heard at nearly every home game and public pressure from Cucurella will only amplify those songs of protest.

Most likely, however, the finances will dictate Chelsea’s next move. Failing to qualify for the Champions League would be an enormous blow to the bank balance and the limited success from player trading means recovering those funds may be tough. The sheer volume of departures could help but very few would provide genuine profit.

Full-scale change may well be a step too far, but it would be a surprise if Chelsea did not alter something in their divisive vision at the end of the season, particularly if the next few months do not go according to plan.

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