Mauricio Pochettino reveals Chelsea wanted to sell £60million star who became ‘best’ in Premier League

Chelsea wanted to sell Marc Cucurella after a slow start to his career at Stamford Bridge, Mauricio Pochettino has revealed.

The former Blues boss has lauded the Spaniard as the ‘best full-back in the Premier League’.

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However, Cucurella could have been allowed to leave Chelsea after just a year at the club.

Having been signed for £60million from Brighton in 2022, the left-back played under four different managers in his first season at Stamford Bridge.

Those coaches included Thomas Tuchel, Frank Lampard and his former Seagulls boss Graham Potter.

Pochettino arrived at the club at the end of a tumultuous campaign to take charge for the 2023/24 season.

Although Chelsea finished sixth and reached the Carabao Cup final, the Argentine was sacked at the end of the campaign.

Cucurella has since gone on to establish himself at left-back for both Chelsea and Spain.

Pochettino has now reflected on the improvements of some of his former players since he left the club.

Speaking on the High Performance podcast, he explained: “How the team finished playing, it is the credit of all these things we’ve spoken about.

“Not because we are a genius in a tactical way, it’s because we create an environment that a player like Malo Gusto, who was really young and came from not to play from Lyon, finished playing his best.

“Cucurella didn’t play from the beginning and the club wanted to sell, he became the best full-back in the Premier League.

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“Conor Gallagher, Enzo Fernandez, Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke, (Nicolas) Jackson, plenty of players, (Moises) Caicedo, they grew through all of this, this idea to build things in this emotional way, that is really, really key.”

Cucurella followed his season under Pochettino by winning Euro 2024 with Spain.

The 27-year-old started six matches during the tournament, including the final against England.

Spain’s 2-1 victory saw Cucurella assist Mikel Oyarzabal for the winning goal.

He subsequently made 36 Premier League appearances under Enzo Maresca last season.

The Blues won both the Conference League and the Club World Cup under the Italian.

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Meanwhile, Cucurella has missed just two league matches so far this term under both Maresca and Liam Rosenior.

As a result, he now has 148 appearances to his name since joining Chelsea, scoring nine goals and adding 12 assists from defence.