According to reports, Manchester City and full-back Marc Cucurella have reached a personal agreement, and the two sides are actively negotiating a transfer fee with Brighton.
Football Insider reports that Manchester City and desired left-back Marc Cucurella have reached a personal agreement and are farther along in negotiations to determine a transfer fee with the Seagulls.
Due to disagreements on player valuation, the defending Premier League winners have not yet reached a full understanding, but they are growing more optimistic that they will achieve an agreement in the next few days.
After winning the Premier League for the fourth time in the previous five seasons, the City citizens wasted little time in improving their team. Erling Haaland, the greatest young striker in the world, joined them to start the summer transfer window, while River Plate also welcomed promising Argentine attacker Julian Alvarez.
They don’t seem to be intending to slow down there either, either. In addition, Manchester City is searching for a natural left-back and a holding midfielder to take the role of captain Fernandinho.
While City’s lack of a well-known No. 9 has frequently drawn attention, it’s easy to forget that Pep Guardiola’s team was also playing without a natural left-back while Benjamin Mendy was on club suspension. Last season, Oleksandr Zinchenko filled in excellently for Joao Cancelo at left-back, where he excelled despite playing out of position.
Marc Cucurella has been named as Manchester City’s main target to bolster the left-back position as Zinchenko is certain to go this summer. Since the Catalan coach views Cucurella as the ideal option to play in an offensive left-back position, he has been the subject of Pep Guardiola‘s attention for some time.
The 23-year-old Spanish left-back only joined the Seagulls last summer for a reported £16 million transfer price from Getafe, but he has adapted to the Premier League like a duck to water. For his outstanding efforts last season, Cucurella won Brighton‘s Player of the Season title.
For Graham Potter‘s team, Cucurella made 35 Premier League starts and was a key factor in their top-half finish. To put his outstanding performances into perspective, this past season he led his positional peers in tackles made, was third in the division for chances created from open play and was first for ball recoveries made.
Cucurella’s performances, unsurprisingly, piqued the interest of a number of Premier League heavyweights, including Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. However, the former Barcelona academy star prefers a move to the Etihad Stadium and is now close to making the switch after reaching an agreement on personal terms.
Brighton is in complete control of this transaction. They are not under any obligation to sell Cucurella, who has four years left on his contract, after recently selling Yves Bissouma to Tottenham for £25 million. Zinchenko, who has been linked with a move away from the Etihad, might leave the club if Manchester City completes a deal for the 23-year-old in the coming days.
