Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella has returned to Cobham to start pre-season work ahead of the new campaign.
The left-back enjoyed two weeks off following Spain’s Euro 2024 final victory over England on July 14 but has returned to work early as he bids to impress new head coach Enzo Maresca. Cucurella finished the season strongly at the Blues under Mauricio Pochettino and carried that form into the Euros, where he played a starring role for Luis de la Fuente’s side.
The 26-year-old featured in six of Spain’s seven Euro fixtures and actually assisted Mikel Oyarzabal’s late winner in the final against the Three Lions. While Cucurella has returned to Cobham, he will not join up with his Chelsea teammates in the United States.
Conor Gallagher, Cole Palmer and Cucurella will instead meet up with the squad when they return to London following their clash against Real Madrid on Wednesday, August 7. There is a chance the trio could be involved in the Blues’ final pre-season match on August 11 against Inter Milan at Stamford Bridge. The game against Inter is just one week before Chelsea kick off their Premier League campaign against reigning champions Manchester City.
“No, not one of them is coming. They are on holiday. They deserve it,” Maresca said after Chelsea’s 4-1 defeat to Celtic on Saturday. “They finished later with England and Spain. They are going to join us on August 6, probably Marc is the only one coming to Cobham a few days before. The rest are still on holiday and they deserve it.”
While Cucurella could have had a few further days of rest, the Spaniard returned to Chelsea’s training ground on Monday and took to social media to reveal as much. Posting a picture of the Blues’ gym, Cucurella wrote: “Back to the office.”
