Jason Cundy claims Marc Cucurella looks like he’s enjoying his football and believes the left back is one of the first names on the team sheet.
Cucurella arrived from Brighton in the summer of 2022 in a deal worth £63m, but struggled in his first season at Stamford Bridge.
The Spain international was booed at times by the Chelsea supporters and he was very close to leaving the club in the summer of 2023, with a loan move to Manchester United thought to be at an advanced stage.
Cundy feels Cucurella is enjoying his football
Cucurella really impressed at the back end of last season as he was moved into an inverted role, which seemed to transform him as a player.
He took that form onto the international stage with Spain as they won Euro 2024, with Cucurella getting the assist for the winning goal.
It’s been quite the transformation for the 26-year-old and he’s now the club’s first choice left back and a firm fan favourite.
The Blues have had a good start to the campaign and currently sit third, with Cucurella one of the top performers, and former Chelsea star Cundy feels he looks like he’s enjoying his football.
“I would say his last three to four months of the season last year he really started to look like the Cucurella we saw at Brighton,” Cundy told talkSPORT.
“Cucurella was excellent [against Arsenal]. He looks like he’s enjoying his football as well, he’s now one of the first names on the team sheet.”
Former Chelsea boss Graham Potter recently praised Cucurella for how he’s progressed his game since he was at Brighton and it seems there could still be more to come.
Cucurella plays with passion and defends aggressively, which fans like, although he did claim earlier this season he felt he was being treated unfairly by officials.
The left back role very much feels like it’s Cucurella’s to lose, although Maresca did experiment with Reece James there for a couple of games before reverting back to the Spaniard for the Arsenal game, and it’s pretty clear he and James are Chelsea’s strongest full back pairing.