Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella has opened the door to a return to Barcelona, saying it would be difficult to turn down a move to the Spanish champions.
Cucurella, 27, came through Barça’s academy, making one first team appearance before going on to play for Eibar, Getafe, Brighton and Chelsea.
ESPN has previously revealed that Barça are keen to strengthen in the full-back positions this summer, with the Spain left-back saying he could be tempted by a return to Spotify Camp Nou.
“It would be difficult to reject [Barça],” he said in a news conference ahead of Spain’s friendly against Egypt on Tuesday at Espanyol‘s RCDE Stadium in Barcelona.
“And not just for me. I would have to think about my family as well. If [an offer] comes, it comes, and we will have to see what decision we would make.”
Cucurella joined Chelsea in 2022 from Brighton and has a contact until 2028, but in a separate interview with The Athletic suggested the club’s strategy of signing young players is not necessarily in line with his own ambitions.
He said the defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League round of 16 highlighted that the Blues are not at the level of Europe’s best teams.
“Results like that are always hard to take,” Cucurella said. “You are fighting and training every day only to realise, at the very end, that when games matter, we are still a bit away from the top level.
“I understand this is part of the club’s policy and they want to take this direction — signing young players and looking to the future. 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.”
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Cucurella disagreed with Chelsea decision to sack Maresca
He also revealed that, while new coach Liam Rosenior is a “very good person” who has been “great at handling the group,” he was not in agreement with the decision to sack Enzo Maresca earlier in the season.
“The moment Maresca left, it had a big impact on us,” he added. “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 pre-season.
“The instability around the club comes from this, in a nutshell. We had a caretaker [former under-21s coach Calum McFarlane] first, then a new manager, with new ideas and no time to work on them. It is what it is.”
