Brighton defender Marc Cucurella has been told to stay away from Brighton training after controversy broke out over a potential transfer away from the club in the last 24 hours.
After Manchester City dropped out of the race to sign the Spaniard, Chelsea opened talks to sign the full-back, and news broke across multiple sources that a deal had been struck on Wednesday for a fee of £52.5m, which would make him the most expensive left-back in history.
For his part, Cucurella handed in a transfer request at the end of July amid a keenness to join Pep Guardiola, but appears equally keen to make the step from Brighton to west London now that their interest has been revealed.
Marc Cucurella to Chelsea, here we go! Full agreement in place between Chelsea and Brighton for more than £50m. Levi Colwill on the verge of joining Brighton soon. 🚨🔵 #CFC
Personal terms already agreed, no way for Man City. Cucurella will become Chelsea new signing, done. pic.twitter.com/5Rw6CvDT1l
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 3, 2022
Despite this widespread agreement within the media that a deal was complete, however, Brighton debunked these reports with a club statement, in which they announced that no agreement had been reached with any club as of yet.
“Contrary to inaccurate reports from numerous media outlets this evening, no agreement has been reached with any club to sell Marc Cucurella”, they wrote on Twitter.
CLUB STATEMENT: MARC CUCURELLA.
Contrary to inaccurate reports from numerous media outlets this evening, no agreement has been reached with any club to sell Marc Cucurella.
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) August 3, 2022
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Cucurella excluded from training following dispute
Now, as per the Athletic, Cucurella has been banned from attending Brighton training for at least the remainder of the week as his future gets sorted.
“The Athletic understands a quoted figure of £52.5million ($63.4m) is below the club’s asking price”, the report adds.
It seems likely that, barring a drastic u-turn, Cucurella will be departing the south coast this summer sooner rather than later, with neither club wanting this to drag on towards the September 1st deadline.
For now, however, he remains a Brighton player.
