Marc Cucurella: ‘Before, people liked the superstars, now they empathise with me’
Spain’s cult hero on the injury layoff that revived his career, not taking football too seriously and Chelsea’s resurgence
“Before it was Ronaldinho and now it’s people like … well, me,” Marc Cucurella says, and then there is laughter. With him there is a lot of laughter. All of a sudden the Chelsea defender is a European champion and cult hero, and you can see why. There’s the hair: massive, as the song says, and in the right light still a bit red, celebratory dye not entirely washed out three months after Spain won Euro 2024. There’s the playing style that helped take them there, “one people empathise with”. And there’s the personality. What was it Erling Haaland said? “He’s a funny man.”
A very funny man.