Chelsea have appeared to mock Brighton after announcing the signing of defender Marc Cucurella in a £62 million deal.
After Brighton moved to deny “inaccurate reports” that the club had reached an agreement to sell Cucurella on Wednesday, Chelsea seemed to copy their statement in a near-identical tweet announcing the Spanish defender’s transfer just two days later.
Brighton confirmed that Cucurella had left the club in a club-record departure, while also announcing the loan signing of highly rated Chelsea prospect Levi Colwill.
The reports on Wednesday suggested that Chelsea had agreed a fee of around £53 million for Cucurella, with Colwill leaving Stamford Bridge on a permanent transfer.
Brighton refuted those reports, after the club refused to budge from their asking price when Manchester City had interest in the 24-year-old left back, and instead held out for a fee that will rise to over £60m if certain add-ons are met.
Brighton signed Cucurella for around £15m last summer and was their player of the season in his first year at the Premier League club.
“We did not want to lose Marc, but he wanted the opportunity of playing Champions League football with a view to accelerating his progress to Spain’s World Cup squad,” Brighton manager Graham Potter said.
“Of course we are disappointed to see Marc leave, but we wish him well for the future. He had an excellent first season in the Premier League, deservedly winning both our player of the season awards, and has been an absolute pleasure to work with over the past 12 months.”
Cucurella said: “I’m really happy. It’s a big opportunity for me to join one of the best clubs in the world and I’m going to work hard to be happy here and help the team.”
