Chelsea Sign Slonina And Want Cucurella

There were concerns about Chelsea’s chances of challenging for honours in the upcoming Premier League season because the Stamford Bridge outfit have lost key players this summer already and have then struggled to get deals of their own over the line. But finally, things are beginning to move in the right direction for Thomas Tuchel’s side.

Chelsea, who have seen Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger and Romelu Lukaku head for the exit, with Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso set to follow, have added Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly to their ranks. And Gabriel Slonina, the highly sought-after goalkeeper from Chicago in the MLS, has recently been announced as the club’s third arrival of the summer. But Chelsea and Tuchel aren’t done there.

Marc Cucarella, the Spanish left-back who currently plies his trade with Brighton, has been the subject of significant interest from Manchester City this summer. Pep Guardiola is a big fan of the twenty-four-year-old, who he sees as a direct replacement for Oleksandr Zinchenko, who left City to join Arsenal. But, after City failed to match Brighton’s asking price, Chelsea have swooped in and are in talks to take Cucurella to Stamford Bridge.

Cucurella enjoyed an excellent season under Graham Potter’s guidance at Brighton, but a move to Chelsea, where he’s challenge Ben Chilwell for a starting berth, will appeal to the Spaniard. And, it's thought that if Chelsea secures Cucurella’s signature in the coming days, they will balance off the expenditure by allowing left-backs Marcos Alonso and Emerson to leave the club.

Cucurella joining would also represent a positive for Chelsea in the transfer market, too, after being beaten to the punch twice by Barcelona, with both Raphinha and Jules Kounde opting to head to the Camp Nou over Stamford Bridge. And Todd Boehly, who is the co-owner and chairman of Chelsea, isn’t planning to stop there, as he has Leicester City’s Wesley Fofana in his sights.

It's Chelsea’s defence which has been hit hard by the departures of Rudiger and Christensen, and if Azpilicueta and Alonso follow, it’s evident that multiple new faces will be needed. Twenty-one-year-old Fofana was looking good until he broke his leg against Villareal in a friendly last August and has since returned to action for the Foxes. And, in a summer where Leicester appear to be welcoming bids for their better players, a deal for Fofana isn’t off the cards.

The 2022/23 Premier League campaign is just days away, with Chelsea’s opening day fixture a match against their former manager Frank Lampard and his Everton side at Goodison Park. It’s unlikely they will have made significant additions by the time the game comes around, but Cucurella signing is possible. But, with a fixture against Spurs at Stamford Bridge following quickly after the Everton game, Tuchel will be hoping Boehly is more successful at the negotiating table than he has been of late.