Ahead of the Premier League match between Chelsea and Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, Marc Cucurella has given his verdict on Pep Guardiola.
Cucurella has noted how Guardiola has influenced him despite never coaching him first hand.
So, what has Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella said about Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola?
Let’s take a look.
What’s the story?
Well, Marc Cucurella has been speaking about Manchester City and their manager Pep Guardiola ahead of the Premier League match this weekend.
Cucurella’s club Chelsea will face the defending Premier League champions in London on Sunday.
The 25-year-old has been raving about Guardiola, who is one of the greatest managers of all time.
The former Brighton and Hove Albion star has noted how Guardiola transformed Barcelona when he was the manager of the La Liga club.
The left-back came through the Barcelona youth academy.
Cucurella told Sky Sports about Guardiola: “He changed the mentality at Barcelona. Before Guardiola, Barcelona were a good team and when he came, they changed the philosophy, they played amazing football – I think one of the best teams in the history of football. They played at another level.
“The philosophy in the Barcelona academy changed because all the teams, they play the same style, the same formation with the same mentality and I think this is very good.
“We can see they do the same here at Manchester City. The team plays really well and they have good things to show, every year they change some things to try to improve on this.
“I don’t have a relationship with him, I’ve seen him at some events and I can speak a little bit with him. He’s a very good person.
“Not for me personally but in my academy stage, they showed me a lot because they changed their mentality and a lot of things I can learn are from his ideas that he brought to Barcelona.”
Manchester City wanted to sign Marc Cucurella before Chelsea transfer
Interestingly, Marc Cucurella was linked with a move to Manchester City before he moved to Chelsea.
Cucurella joined Chelsea from Premier League rivals Brighton and Hove Albion in the summer of 2022.
Chelsea reportedly paid £60 million for the Spain international, who can also operate as a wing-back.
According to Sky Sports in August 2022, City wanted to sign Cucurella, but they could not match Brighton’s valuation of the defender.
In August 2022, Guardiola publicly said that he wanted to sign Cucurella, adding that City as a club decided that they could not pay the asking price.
