{"id":746621,"date":"2026-06-19T05:34:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T05:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/746621\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T05:34:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T05:34:18","slug":"when-real-come-for-you-its-very-difficult-to-say-no-cucurella-explains-chelsea-exit-real-madrid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/746621\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018When Real come for you it\u2019s very difficult to say no\u2019: Cucurella explains Chelsea exit | Real Madrid"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marc Cucurella has admitted that he had not expected to leave Chelsea and that his \u00a352m signing for Real Madrid<\/a> was done in a day and a half. The Spain left-back also defended himself against the backlash from Barcelona fans, insisting that although he was born and raised in Catalonia and joined the Bar\u00e7a academy aged 14, he could not turn down Real Madrid. \u201cI am very happy,\u201d the 27-year-old said \u2013 if maybe not as happy as his wife, Claudia, whose entire family are Madrid supporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was all very fast,\u201d Cucurella said from Spain\u2019s training base in Chattanooga, Tennessee. \u201cI got a phone call one morning. My people told me the two clubs had the terms mostly agreed and that I had to decide if I wanted to go there. I had no doubts. It is a big step for me, very important in my career. It all happened in roughly a day and a half. For me, that was the best thing, so it could be all done and I could keep my focus on the World Cup<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marc Cucurella in Spain\u2019s surprise 0-0 draw with Cape Verde. Photograph: Colin Hubbard\/AP<\/p>\n

The full-back added: \u201cIf you had asked me a few months ago, I would probably have told you I didn\u2019t expect to leave Chelsea. I was very happy there, my family too. But in life and football sometimes you need to change and start chapters you did not expect. It\u2019s not easy to leave Chelsea. I lived there for four years and I think I arrived as a young kid. I dreamt of winning trophies and Chelsea gave me the chance. I\u2019m very grateful to what they gave me. But the challenge now is bigger. I can come back to my country and play for Real Madrid which is one of the best clubs in the world. It was not an easy decision but the right one for me and my family.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen this happens it is normally a very long process, and one that does not only depend on me. A lot of things are factored in, and the best thing that could happen was Madrid coming in to sign me so convincingly. It didn\u2019t come out anywhere [in the media] and by the time it did, it was all done. Being at a World Cup<\/a> while you have other stuff going on in your head it\u2019s not easy. So I am very happy it was all resolved very quick so I can now be 100% focused on the World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marc<\/a><\/p>\n

Cucurrella talked to Jos\u00e9 Mourinho, Madrid\u2019s returning head coach. \u201cWe had a chat. I was very happy. Having a manager like Mourinho calling you and saying he can\u2019t wait to work with you gives you a lot of confidence. It was a quick chat, to be honest: I did not want to shift my focus away from Spain<\/a> duty, but what I liked a lot is that he remembered a lot of things from the game I played against him for Chelsea against Benfica in the Champions League. He insisted that he believes I can add a lot to the team and the dressing room. That just gave me more confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marc Cucurella speaks to the media in Chattanooga. Photograph: Florencia Tan Jun\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Asked about the anger from Barcelona fans, Cucurella replied: \u201cI have to respect everyone\u2019s opinions. I am very thankful for everything I have experienced in my career and what I learnt in La Masia. But there\u2019s different chapters in life and I thought this was the right step for me. When Madrid comes for you, it is very difficult to say no. I did not doubt that this was the step me and my family wanted to take.<\/p>\n

\u201cPressure will be high, but when you move to a club like this what you want is to fight for titles. I am ready for that. My career has not been easy. Now having the chance to play for Real Madrid is a fantastic way to top my career off. [My wife] and her family were always Madrid fans. When she met me, I guess you stop living football as you did \u2013 as a fan \u2013 and start thinking more about what\u2019s best for you because in the end this is a business and not everything is how you imagined. She will be very happy. Who would have imagined that her partner would be a Madrid player? She has been there in tough moments and now I am happy we can enjoy this together.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Marc Cucurella has admitted that he had not expected to leave Chelsea and that his \u00a352m signing for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":746622,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-746621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/746621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=746621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/746621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/746622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=746621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=746621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=746621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}