Chelsea fans are still buzzing after that sensational 3-0 demolition of FC Barcelona in midweek, a result that sent a loud and clear message to the rest of Europe: the Blues are back among the continent’s elite. But the real test comes this weekend when Enzo Maresca’s side travel to the Emirates to face an Arsenal team that currently looks like the most in-form side on the planet, fresh from dismantling Bayern Munich themselves.
If Barcelona rolled out the red carpet, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal will slam the door shut. Expect a low-block, suffocating press and almost no space in behind; everything Chelsea exploited with ease against Hansi Flick’s open, chaotic Barça will be ten times harder against the Gunners. Maresca will need a Plan B, maybe even a Plan C.
Yet no matter how the Italian tweaks his system, one man is absolutely stays in it: Marc Cucurella.
The Spanish left-back didn’t just pocket Lamine Yamal on Wednesday night; he pickpocketed him, mugged him, and sent him home wondering what his own name was. Many already call the 17-year-old the best player in the world; Cucurella made him look like a lost academy kid. Now the same Cucurella gets Bukayo Saka this weekend; arguably the Premier League’s most devastating winger when he’s on song. If the 27-year-old repeats the trick, the “best left-back in the world” shouts will turn from hot take into cold, hard fact.
And Chelsea have just made sure he isn’t going anywhere.
In his latest YouTube video, Fabrizio Romano dropped the bombshell we’d all been waiting for:
“Here we go; Marc Cucurella signed a new, improved contract with Chelsea back in August. It’s a done deal, completely agreed, just never officially announced by the club.”
No fanfare, no glossy social-media graphic, just quiet, ruthless business. While half the fanbase was still mocking the £62 m Brighton paid two years ago, the club locked down their reinvented star on better terms and for longer.
Think about the journey: ridiculed for 18 months, turned into a meme, then handed the inverted full-back role by Pochettino and suddenly unstoppable. Under Maresca he’s gone to another level entirely; aggressive, technically flawless, positionally impeccable and now undeniably world-class at 27, prime years still ahead.
Chelsea have tied down Cole Palmer earlier this season. Now they’ve secured the other half of their new spine in Cucurella. The project is taking shape, and the best news of all? The man who just silenced Lamine Yamal is staying right where he belongs; in blue, shutting down the planet’s best wingers for years to come.
Bring on Saka. Bring on anyone. Marc Cucurella is ready; and so are Chelsea.