One Chelsea player will meet up with the squad for pre-season as a newly crowned European champion.
Blues defender Marc Cucurella, 25, helped his country win the Euro 2024 tournament this summer.
Spain recorded seven wins out of seven in the competition, beating England 2-1 in Sunday’s final.
Cucurella seriously impressed as Spain’s main left-back at the Euros. This included assisting the winning goal in the final to clinch the trophy.
Speaking on ESPN FC, Frank Leboeuf even said Cucurella was “perfect” during the Euros tournament.
Gary Lineker delivers verdict on Marc Cucurella
Gary Lineker has praised Chelsea’s Cucurella for his fantastic displays in a Spain kit.
He suggested the full-back is a lot more suited to playing for his country than his current club side.
“Take for example Cucurella, he’s had a really tough time at Chelsea,” Lineker told The Rest Is Football.
“He’s come here and some people are doubting him. But he was like a machine in this team.
“If you’re comfortable in a certain system playing a certain way, but then you are asked to play in a different way like perhaps he’s been at Chelsea because the club’s a bit of a mess, then suddenly you’re uncomfortable.”
Will Chelsea get this version of him?
It’s going to be very interesting to see how Cucurella performs in the 2024/25 campaign for Chelsea.
There were signs towards the back end of last season that he was rediscovering his best form, so perhaps his contribution for Spain isn’t completely out of the blue.
Can he nail down a permanent starting position in the Chelsea XI? It might not be easy when you consider he’s competing with Ben Chilwell for the left-back spot.
But Cucurella will surely return to Chelsea with an extra spring in a step and the confidence he can impress new head coach Enzo Maresca.
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