Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly has revealed that he signed Marc Cucurella in the summer of 2022 because Manchester City had wanted the Spanish left-back first.
The American businessman, who had led the Boehly/Clearlake Capital takeover of Chelsea a few months earlier and with the club still reorganizing, temporarily took on the role of sporting director despite having no prior experience.
Among the big-money transfers the club completed that summer was the £63 million ($84.4m) signing of then Manchester City target Cucurella from Brighton.
"Finding those right elements, the first time at anything is tricky," Boehly said during an event on IConnections.
"So you're going to make mistakes and obviously having taken over in the circumstances that we did, basically the whole management team left. I was stuck being interim sporting director for the summer having no idea what made a good football player.
"But knowing that Marc Cucurella, if Man City wants him, I want him. It was really simple that way."
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Cucurella, 27, had been a City target and had handed in a transfer request only for the two clubs not to strike a deal.
While City weren't reportedly willing to pay Brighton's asking price for the transfer, Chelsea did.
A Euro 2024 winner with Spain, Cucurella has made over 140 appearances for Chelsea and is under contract at Stamford Bridge until June 2028.
