Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella has openly admitted he felt a strong pull towards joining Manchester City after a personal request from manager Pep Guardiola, before his eventual 2022 move to Stamford Bridge.
Cucurella described City as being “at their peak, among the best clubs in the world” when they made an attempt to sign him.
He stated that “when a player is contacted as I was, with a special request from Guardiola, you want to do anything.”
Despite the strong personal appeal, the transfer did not materialize because “the clubs did not reach an agreement,” Cucurella said.
The Spanish left-back ultimately moved from Brighton to Chelsea in the summer of 2022. The transfer fee for that move was 70 million euros, equivalent to approximately $75 million.