Marc Cucurella

[stan bowles]

He could also turn to shit.

Same as any player then.

 

[wolviedinho]

As a Brighton fan it's fascinating reading this thread and getting the other side's perspective. Having seen a lot of Cucurella live, I think he's an excellent player - and essential to the way we played for much of last season. We may be "small" in Premier League terms, and obviously we're still newbies when it comes to the big time - but the club IS ambitious, and Tony Bloom has shown many times that he will not sell unless he gets the right money (even if the player gets upset and puts in a transfer request). It's part of the club's strategy to be a long-term player in the EPL. We don't have the resources of City, and never will have. But we ARE good at unearthing young talent and fostering it. Not unlike City, but on a very small sale (eg: the relationship with Royal Union St Gilloise in Belgium, and the number of young players we currently have out on loan). We definitely do NOT take young players from bigger clubs on loan - so the prospect of fostering a relationship with City and getting some of your brightest U23s is a non-starter. And setting a perceived high price has nothing to do with BHA wanting to "get one over" City. We're not in that game! We're too small for anyone to worry about us!!
At the end of the day we MAY sell Cucurella to City, but it will take a lot more than has been offered. Cucurella is, after all, a significant upgrade on Ake. But if City don't meet the valuation, then that's fine...we keep an excellent player who has 4 years left on his contract. Cucurella may be disappointed if that's the way it pans out, but he seems a great guy, and he's hardly likely to goon strike for 4 years!

Good post. Blocking a player from moving to achieve his ambitions will have an impact on said player. He maybe a good guy and get his head down. I would expect his performances to be impacted and you won’t have the same player. Best to let any unhappy player go. Especially for a huge profit.

 

[not my fault!]

As a Brighton fan it's fascinating reading this thread and getting the other side's perspective. Having seen a lot of Cucurella live, I think he's an excellent player - and essential to the way we played for much of last season. We may be "small" in Premier League terms, and obviously we're still newbies when it comes to the big time - but the club IS ambitious, and Tony Bloom has shown many times that he will not sell unless he gets the right money (even if the player gets upset and puts in a transfer request). It's part of the club's strategy to be a long-term player in the EPL. We don't have the resources of City, and never will have. But we ARE good at unearthing young talent and fostering it. Not unlike City, but on a very small sale (eg: the relationship with Royal Union St Gilloise in Belgium, and the number of young players we currently have out on loan). We definitely do NOT take young players from bigger clubs on loan - so the prospect of fostering a relationship with City and getting some of your brightest U23s is a non-starter. And setting a perceived high price has nothing to do with BHA wanting to "get one over" City. We're not in that game! We're too small for anyone to worry about us!!
At the end of the day we MAY sell Cucurella to City, but it will take a lot more than has been offered. Cucurella is, after all, a significant upgrade on Ake. But if City don't meet the valuation, then that's fine...we keep an excellent player who has 4 years left on his contract. Cucurella may be disappointed if that's the way it pans out, but he seems a great guy, and he's hardly likely to goon strike for 4 years!

The difference is he’s an unknown and had one decent season with an average team. He’s not setting the world alight and far from world class currently. He’s a risk to City, one we will take a punt on if the price had been realistic, he’s not a £50m player yet, I’m not saying he won’t be but right now Brighton are trying it on because it’s City.
We will walk though and I’ve no doubt buy in a player who we will end up nurturing under Pep in to a better player, he’ll win trophies, get a huge wage and have his name known… Meanwhile Cucurella wastes another 4 years at Brighton wondering what could of been, as his chance will of passed.
You’ll likely hover around mid table and fleet with relegation before eventually being left behind and going down. I know that sounds harsh but it’s the reality, more so if you refuse to double up on a player you’ve had a year where you could use that money to buy two players to do the same. It’s madness on your part in all honesty.Your competition is buying up players, investing in the team while you sit on an asset instead of cashing in! You talk about ambition but unless you improve your team (you do that by selling and reinvesting) that ambition in reality is only a dream.
Cucurella is a ‘meh’ signing for me, can he do the job at City and step up? Possibly but under Pep is his best chance too. If City walk away will Brighton ever see £50m for the player from someone else? I highly doubt it and each year he has a year less on his contract. Bloom is plucking numbers out the air based on other sales but City are not stupid, we base our valuations on actual stats and his potential. As I say he is/was a risk worth taking but not at the numbers being quoted.
Just my opinion of course.

 

[Charliegull]

Zin is a premier league winner. We sold him for a fair fee. Your evaluation is pie in the sky and now the whole club and fanbase is entrenched and can’t take a step back. Try not reading tweets nor listening to the media. Placing a high valuation on a player unproven is suicidal business. Maybe bloom does need the money back.

I agree he is over priced. £27m is about the correct valuation, thats why you bid £30 as a start to negotiating a transfer. I know clubs are going to up it a bit when its a top 6 side, and like many orher clubs add even more because its city, i though a deal was possible at £35m with either add ons over a period of time taking it to a possible £40m in total or £30m plus a player for us to sale on later.

 

[Stirling1978]

And maybe if he has another couple of good seasons other clubs will be interested in him and his value will continue to grow. It's frustrating for us but they are clearly not determined to sell him for less than their valuation of him.

What’s the record fee for a fullback?
Even if he has 2/3 more excellent seasons for Brighton, can’t see that anyone is still gonna pay £50m+ for him, considering his contract will have less to run.

 

[stan bowles]

I don’t think anyone is suggesting he’d be sold for £30m - that was City’s opening offer, nothing more.

£45m is tripling the money they paid for him. And if you believe their last few briefings, they don’t even consider that to be enough.

I doubt anyone would consider that deal to be walking allover anyone.

And with respect, Spurs are a slightly different proposition to Brighton. Kane was Captain of England playing for Spurs, who - despite never winning anything - are still one of the top teams in the country, and was regularly competing to get into the CL. Not to mention Spurs are his boyhood Club.

It’s a completely different situation.

Cucurella is trying to get selected for his national team in a World Cup year, and as it stands has just one cap - and that was before he joined Brighton!

Well, let's hope they see sense and a deal can be struck. Reading the recent post from BHA fan @Cucu suggests it's not going to be easy though.

 

[JewelZee]

Then why did you say I should wait and see who we sign before I complain, when you now changed your argument to "2 senior fullbacks is enough to start the season with as long as we sign someone before the window closes"? Your arguments are incoherent, and doesnt make any sense. But alright, you might think starting the season with 5 senior defenders fighting for 4 places (Cancelo, Walker, Ake, Stones, Dias (Laporte is injuried since last season still)) is fine, nothing to worry about or any reason that signing a fullback before the season started should have been a priority. I disagree and think we could and should have sorted this out sooner. That doesnt mean I'm writing the season off, or think Txiki is useless, just that I think we would be in a much better position if we had handled this situation with a bit more urgency. Lets agree to disagree.

There's really nothing to debate. This is the Prem. Going into the season with FIVE healthy backs is ridiculous. Not 9/1, fucking 8/7. Are people being serious now? Optimism is one thing, track record of success as well, but being downright delusional is another. Going thru what we went thru last May isn't some kind of plan. We were a whisker away from going trophy-less which with a roster like ours and a manager like ours would have been criminal.

The first 3 or 4 league games don't matter? What the fuck are people drinking. Everyone else has 8 or 9 backs. If Laporte was healthy and Zinchenko was still here we'd still be short. That's why we were pursuing Cucurella for so long, to replace Mendy. Someone like Mbete or JWE are good for the 9th spot at this time. I cannot believe people are actually insisting we're good to go as of right now. And those of us who are concerned are being called entitled and spoiled. Actually those of you who are disrespecting our opponents by thinking we can proceed with your Aunt Betty and your fucking German Sheppard as cover and still be OK as long as the club says so are the entitled ones.

 

[JewelZee]

Both Liverpool's full backs aren't great defensively either. In fact there are currently no full backs who can combine both roles to a really high standard

How that play out for TAA in the CL final? Just asking.

 

[stan bowles]

What’s the record fee for a fullback?
Even if he has 2/3 more excellent seasons for Brighton, can’t see that anyone is still gonna pay £50m+ for him, considering his contract will have less to run.

Walker was £52m I think and Chilwell was £50m as was Wan-Bissaka. BHA will probably point to Ben White being sold for £50m and us paying £41m for Ake as they probably rate Cucurella more highly.

 

[Mr. Wednesday]

We spent £45m on a backup defensive mid a few weeks ago. If you think that's good value for money, I have no idea how you can have a problem with the idea of paying £5m more for a starter left back.

As much as I do get the club wanting to draw a line under the precedent we've already set for ourselves, I don't get why this particular move is the one where we decide to be frugal. Especially when you consider the fact that we've just sold our only left sided full back.

Just a bit weird.

Agreed. Especially when considering the prize summer signing is almost certainly going to benefit from the natural width and team balance a player like Cucurella would provide. If you were trying to conduct an exercise in minimising the effectiveness of Haaland, you would probably pick the exact same players used at those particular full-back and wing positions yesterday (from those available at the club). If the club decide to move on from Cucurella and can't sign an alternative I genuinely hope JWE gets given decent minutes and a chance to show what he can bring, especially against low block/unadventurous teams.