Chelsea agree Cucurella fee with Colwill loaned to Brighton
Suraj Radia
- Updated: 4 Aug 2022 22:03 BST
- 3 min read
Chelsea have agreed a fee for Marc Cucurella in a deal that will also see young defender Levi Colwill join Brighton on loan for the season.
Cucurella was thought to already have finalised a deal to join Chelsea but the reports were quickly denied by Brighton, reportedly due to the Colwill move stalling.
Brighton were initially hoping to sign Colwill permanently in a separate deal but the move is now understood to be a loan deal and the fee for Cucurella is set to be £55 million plus £7m in add-ons.
Cucurella is believed to already be in London for a medical ahead of penning a six-year-deal after being told to stay away from Brighton’s training ground by manager Graham Potter to avoid any distractions for his side.
Colwill, meanwhile, who spent last season on loan at Championship side Huddersfield, was not given a squad number by Chelsea for the upcoming campaign and both deals should be confirmed imminently.
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Chelsea have had a dramatic summer so far, with u-turns and hijackings across multiple deals, and there was a fear that Cucurella could end up being another one that collapsed at the last minute.
Strong reports emerged that a deal was all but confirmed for Cucurella, forcing Brighton to release a late-night statement quashing the speculation.
Barcelona were believed to have, once again, risked the wrath of Chelsea by making a late push for Cucurella but their focus is now understood to be on Marcos Alonso, who the Brighton wing-back is replacing at Stamford Bridge.
#CFC ended up paying a bit extra for Cucurella by only loaning Levi Colwill to Brighton. Hopefully it’s a sign there is still a pathway for Levi to make it at Chelsea. He will get the chance to impress them in the PL. The club still want more defenders though. Eg. Fofana.
— Simon Johnson (@SJohnsonSport) August 4, 2022
The delay was understood to be over the Colwill deal, with initial reports claiming the 19-year-old would be joining Brighton on a permanent deal along with a buy-back clause for Chelsea.
But the Blues rate Colwill highly and have always been reluctant to sell him, instead pushing to broker a loan deal and prompting Brighton to up the £52.5m previously agreed.
Cucurella is set to become the fifth arrival at Chelsea this summer and will bring the total spending under new owner Todd Boehly to more than £160m, more than any other team.
