[Albion] Marc Cucurella *Signed For Chelsea 05/08/2022*

[Hugo Rune]

Marc Cucurella *SINGS on a five-year contract*

Looking at his actual minutes played in the 2021/22 PL season:

With Bissouma

* 2,116 minutes
* 27 goals scored (78m/goal)
* 28 goals conceded (76m/goal)
* 34 "points won" (1.45 points/90)

Without Bissouma

* 1,304 minutes
* 15 goals scored (87m/goal)
* 16 goals conceded(82m/goal)
* 17 "points won" (1.17 points/90)

Obviously this doesn't take into account the relative quality of the opposition faced/missed, but his impact on goals scored and conceded was not nearly as dramatic as the match outcomes would suggest.

He dominates a midfield which is great for us.

But Potter has other ways of doing this (see West Ham 2nd half).

It might do us good to not have him starting every match as he played the DM role almost perfectly but his attacking forays, be it decisive passes, goals or assists, were always limited. I think we’ll see a difference from Mac. I also think Groß will get double figures now he is back to playing No.10/AM.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

I could be wrong but think it appears to be sensible to just let the possible Chelsea bid lay around for a few days to see if some kind of desperation happens at City when they realise they won't get him for peanuts in the end and when they realise that the option of signing him next year would be pretty much gone if he moves to Chelsea. If they're not confident in the options, they just might say "**** it" and return with a proper bid, maybe outbidding Chelsea. Not sure if this is what will happen but makes a lot of sense to me.

So what does the club say to Chelsea? "Hang on a minute Chelsea mate, we're just trying to see if we can squeeze a few more quid out of City and then we'll get back to you and see what you think and if you want to stick or twist."?

It's not an auction, FFS! If City didn't get the message after the first rejected bid, then it's tough luck to them.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Can someone with the ability change the thread title? It's not exactly reflective of anything like a recent position

One or two people ask this from time to time on player threads, and my answer would be the same as HKFC's the last time it was posted - no.

Reason being this is a fast moving situation in terms of rumour but very little substance in terms of outcome. City have bid, we've rejected, Cucurella's put in a TR, Chelsea may or may not have bid and there may or may not be a player exchange involved.

No one has the time to keep changing it nor to fact check all of the above.

When something concrete and definite happens in terms of him staying or going it'll be updated. Until then you know where to come for all the latest gossip and you also know he's still our player.

 

[schmunk]

Was that last night's homework?

5 minute job.

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/yve...ga/0/wettbewerb/GB1/pos/0/trainer_id/0/plus/1 and a quick spreadsheet.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Whining about it achieves nothing.

And whining about people whining about it achieves...

 

[SeagullinExile]

And whining about people whining about it achieves...

I’m not whining pal... I’m having a fantastic day!

 

[JBizzle]

It isnae exactly progress fella!

It depends on what lens through which you're looking:

1) We've sold our PotS and fan favourite in Marc Cucurella, and losing him and Bissouma in the same window is a step backwards in squad quality and depth [No progress] OR
2) We took a risk on a £15m defender, who's now worth £50m+ and is exactly in the plan for the club's long term strategy. Three years ago, we'd never sold a player for more than £8m and that was Ulloa - Now we have a squad with the quality to justify 2x £50m and one £30m+ fees [Progress]

 

[Bold Seagull]

One or two people ask this from time to time on player threads, and my answer would be the same as HKFC's the last time it was posted - no.

Reason being this is a fast moving situation in terms of rumour but very little substance in terms of outcome. City have bid, we've rejected, Cucurella's put in a TR, Chelsea may or may not have bid and there may or may not be a player exchange involved.

No one has the time to keep changing it nor to fact check all of the above.

When something concrete and definite happens in terms of him staying or going it'll be updated. Until then you know where to come for all the latest gossip and you also know he's still our player.

No change until the fat player sings.

 

[Springal]

Marc Cucurella *SINGS on a five-year contract*

So what does the club say to Chelsea? "Hang on a minute Chelsea mate, we're just trying to see if we can squeeze a few more quid out of City and then we'll get back to you and see what you think and if you want to stick or twist."?

It's not an auction, FFS! If City didn't get the message after the first rejected bid, then it's tough luck to them.

Of course it is - these deals are complex , how it’s structured, any add ons etc - so I doubt a club would accept straight away , no doubt has to be discussed in the club. Which buys time to get City back to the table.

 

[Swansman]

So what does the club say to Chelsea? "Hang on a minute Chelsea mate, we're just trying to see if we can squeeze a few more quid out of City and then we'll get back to you and see what you think and if you want to stick or twist."?

It's not an auction, FFS! If City didn't get the message after the first rejected bid, then it's tough luck to them.

Kind of, yes. "Thank you for your nice £50-55m bid, we'll wait a few days to see if there's any better offers before we make a decision on what you've offered."

It is much more an auction than some kind of convenience store where everything has a clearly stated, non-negotionable price tag. If Brighton values the player as a £50m player, Chelsea makes that bid and then City, waking up to the situation, makes a £60m bid, I'm fairly sure TB would reject the Chelsea bid and accept the City one.

 

[Stat Brother]

Paging [MENTION=435]Stat Brother[/MENTION].

Despite all evidence to the contrary.

 

[schmunk]

Anyway, to take this thread even further off topic, never mind us losing Bissouma - what about Leicester's prospect of losing Kasper Schmeichel, club captain, who has played all but 90 minutes of the last 4 seasons...

 

[Icy Gull]

Someone better get the Pampers out!

I have an industrial level stored for when GP leaves, they’ll be staying there until then

 

[Mancgull]

If we take a step back and look at the bigger picture, the club don't NEED to sell Cucurella. However, in seemingly agreeing a deal, they obviously think that a) it's the best thing for the club and the player and b) that the first team will be ok without him. Tony is a fan – just like all of us on here – so there is no way he would jeopardise the quality of the squad (or, more importantly, his potential income) by holding a fire sale with our players.

I don't get the doom and gloom from some people. Players come and go, regardless of how good they are. And they are replaced – often with players that are of an even better quality.

I say trust the club to do the 'right' thing.

Yes, exactly. Ideally we wouldn't have wanted to sell Cucu this window, but City's targeting of him has unsettled him and now, on balance, it's probably the right thing to do to let him go. It's not as if we haven't had time to do our research on a replacement. I'm sure that we have a plan in place and we have to put trust in the club to execute that plan , as they have in the past few years.
It is important to look at the big picture. Our model is starting to work. We have had circa £150m of player sale income over the past 12 moths via White, Burn, Cucu, Ostigard, Bissouma. We have invested some of this and I expect us to invest some of the Cucu money before the end of the window.

 

[Eric the meek]

Now do the with/without Caicedo stats to calm everyone down even more.

I never realised my innocent comment 'I'm not sure we really missed Bissouma', would cause such a stir.

Thanks to [MENTION=36353]schmunk[/MENTION] for providing those excellent stats which show I was right, even if it was a fluke.

 

[Swansman]

Anyway, to take this thread even further off topic, never mind us losing Bissouma - what about Leicester's prospect of losing Kasper Schmeichel, club captain, who has played all but 90 minutes of the last 4 seasons...

For £1m, at that. Desperate to get rid of his £120k/week wages apparently... somewhat signalling that their time in the sunshine (competing with the top) might truly be over.

 

[Guinness Boy]

I have an industrial level stored for when GP leaves, they’ll be staying there until then

It'll be a wet Christmas round at Icy's then once Southgate's binned off.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Anyway, to take this thread even further off topic, never mind us losing Bissouma - what about Leicester's prospect of losing Kasper Schmeichel, club captain, who has played all but 90 minutes of the last 4 seasons...

Yes that really did surprise me.

 

[Icy Gull]

It'll be a wet Christmas round at Icy's then once Southgate's binned off.

True, unlike [MENTION=38333]Swansman[/MENTION] who will be moving on with GP, although becoming an England fan will be a tough ask for him I think

Anyway I'm #teamsouthgate our most successful manager since Sir Alf. Give him all the time he needs to rebuild from what will probably be a fiasco in Qatar

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

For £1m, at that. Desperate to get rid of his £120k/week wages apparently... somewhat signalling that their time in the sunshine (competing with the top) might truly be over.

Hmmm they do sem to be in an insane rush to bin players, Maddison, Fofana, Barnes, Tielemans all atrracting bids, plus others possibly.