It’s ‘hard to turn down’ Barcelona — Cucurella

… says managerial changes affecting Chelsea’s performance

Chelsea defender, Marc Cucurella, has said it would be “hard to turn down” an offer to return to his former club, Barcelona.

The 27-year-old, who was developed by Espanyol’s academy and then played for Barcelona’s youth teams, made one first-team appearance for the Catalan club in 2017.

He played for Eibar and Getafe in La Liga before joining Brighton in 2021.

An impressive first season in the Premier League earned him a £60m move to Chelsea, where the Spain defender has become established as the regular left-back.

Asked about a return to his homeland, Cucurella said: “Spain is always Spain. It is where I grew up and you always think about going back.

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“But I would [prefer to] leave it for a few years down the line. I am very happy here and it is a great life experience.”

Pushed specifically on a return to Barcelona, Cucurella added: “It is clear if that situation [Barcelona making an offer] did arise, it is hard to turn down, but I would have to consider it in the end.

“It is not just me, I also have to think about my family and together we would have to decide what’s best for us.

“As I have said before, right now I am not thinking about that. If it comes, it will come, and we will see what decision is made.”

Cucurella has played under five different permanent managers since joining Chelsea in the summer of 2022.

Enzo Maresca took over in 2024 and guided the Blues to a top-four finish, the Club World Cup title and also success in the Conference League in 2025.

Liam Rosenior, who was managing Strasbourg, took over following the departure of Maresca at the start of the year.

“We knew what Maresca wanted from us,” Cucurella told the Athletic.

“Winning a title like the Club World Cup also helps, strengthens the bond, and you create great relationships during the celebrations.

“When a manager gives you that confidence and offers you a platform to fight for titles, you’d die for him.

“The moment Maresca left, it had a big impact on us. These are decisions taken by the club. If you asked me, I would not have made this decision. To make a change like that, the best thing is to wait until the end of the season.

“You would give everyone, the players and the new manager, time to get ready, have a full pre-season.

“The instability around the club comes from this, in a nutshell. We had a caretaker [former Under-21s coach Calum McFarlane] first, then a new manager, with new ideas and no time to work on them. It is what it is.”

Chelsea are six points outside the top four – although just one behind Liverpool in fifth – and suffered their joint-heaviest defeat in a two‑legged European tie this month when they lost 8-2 on aggregate in the Champions League to Paris St‑Germain.

“Results like that are always hard to take,” Cucurella added. “You are fighting and training every day only to realise, at the very end, that when games matter, we are still a bit away from the top level.

“I understand this is part of the club’s policy, and that they want to take this direction – signing young players and looking to the future. But, for all of us who want to win big things, moments like this make you feel discouraged.

“To fight for major trophies such as the Premier League or the Champions League, you need more.

“Signing young players only might complicate achieving those goals. Against PSG, we lacked players that had gone through situations like that.”