Manchester City have been linked with interest in signing Brighton and Hove Albion defender Marc Cucurella.
The 23-year-old former Barcelona man has had a standout first season at the AMEX Stadium after arriving from Getafe for £15.8million last summer and The Telegraph have claimed that the Sky Blues are keen to sign Cucurella for £30million this summer.
Cucurella was named as Brighton ’s Player of the Season earlier this month and scored his first goal in England during the Seagulls' 4-0 thrashing of Manchester United on home soil on May 7. The 23-year-old came up through the ranks of Barcelona's famed La Masia academy, spending eight years at the club between 2012 and 2020 before permanently joining Getafe.
City are reportedly in the market for a new left-back over the summer to provide competition for Oleksandr Zinchenko and Joao Cancelo. Brighton are aware they face a battle to keep hold of the one-time Spanish international for too long, but would like to keep him for at least another season after a stellar start to life in Sussex.
Cucurella, who made his Spain debut against Lithuania last June, is a versatile talent, who can and has also played as both a winger and as a centre-back during his career both in Spain and in England - factors which would appeal to Guardiola who favours players who are competent in more than one position.
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Last year, Cucurella was part of the Spain squad who finished runners up in the 2020 Olympics, a competition delayed by 12 months due to the coronavirus pandemic. Spain lost in the final to a Brazil side that included Everton ’s Richarlison, Arsenal ’s Gabriel Martinelli and Newcastle United’s star January signing Bruno Guimaraes.
In his debut season for Brighton, Cucurella has played and started in 34 of the Seagulls’ 37 league games, helping them to a best ever Premier League points tally of 48. That could climb as high as 51 points if they beat West Ham United in the final game of the season on Sunday.
City have already been active in the summer transfer window, despite it not officially opening until next month. The Sky Blues confirmed the permanent signing of striker Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund last week in a deal worth £51.2million, with the Norwegian among the most highly-rated strikers in world football.
