As Marc Cucurella engaged in one of his last press duties of what has felt like an interminable season, the focus of a table of journalists at a New York hotel, the left-back’s minute tally for the campaign sat at 4,912 for club and country. He’ll expect to hit the 5,000 mark on Sunday - a figure only the most indispensable can achieve.
“I feel very good to be fair,” he insists, showing the spirit he’ll need against the challenge of the electrifying PSG starlet Desire Doue. But as he stares down the prospect of ending a year of almost constant football as a world champion, Cucurella can only reflect on the imperative adjustment in mentality that brought him to this point, now one of the most relied-upon, revered starters in the Chelsea team.
