Marc Cucurella Joins Real Madrid From Chelsea Hours Before Spain’s FIFA World Cup 2026 Opener

Real Madrid announced the signing of Marc Cucurella from Chelsea on Monday, the day the left back is set to play for Spain in its opening match at the World Cup.

The 27-year-old Cucurella, one of the world’s most easily recognizable players because of his long, curly hair, has signed a six-year contract, Madrid said, and for a fee that the BBC reported to be 60 million euros ($70 million).

It could be the first of a slew of signings made by Madrid since the hiring of José Mourinho as coach last week and the re-election of Florentino Pérez as the club’s president. Pérez has already said he wants to sign Liverpool center back Ibrahima Konaté and Inter Milan right back Denzel Dumfries.

Cucurella joined Chelsea from Brighton in 2022, the year the London club was bought by its current American ownership, and has established himself as one of the best left-backs in the world, helping Spain to win the European Championship in 2024.

He is part of the Spain squad at the World Cup in North America, with the team’s first group match against Cape Verde in Atlanta.

Chelsea is under pressure to sell some of its top players this summer after failing to qualify for any European competition next season.

Cucurella came under some scrutiny after questioning, in an interview with The Athletic in March, the club’s decision to fire manager Enzo Maresca in January.

“The moment Maresca left, it had a big impact on us,” he was quoted as saying. “These are decisions taken by the club. If you asked me, I would not have made this decision. To make a change like that, the best thing is to wait until the end of the season.”

Chelsea struggled in the second half of the season and slumped to a 10th-place finish in the Premier League and was beaten 8-2 on aggregate by Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Cucurella started his professional career at Madrid’s fierce rival, Barcelona. He also played for Eibar and Getafe before moving to England in 2021, initially with Brighton.