Marc Cucurella has gone from being booed by his own fans to being booed by those of other Premier League teams.
The 26-year-old has won over most Chelsea supporters, but it hasn’t been easy for a player who suffered injury and had off-field issues after moving from Brighton to Stamford Bridge for £62m three years ago.
When asked about his journey from unpopular signing to fan favourite, Cucurella said: “It is very good because when I arrived at this club it was difficult and in the beginning we had a lot of changes. The results were difficult.
“I’m not a player that has the quality to take the ball and change the game in one action and go past three players. I’m more of a player that needs to have the team playing well to show my qualities.
“So at the beginning it was very tough because the team didn’t have maybe identity or didn’t have a clear way to play. I struggled a little and then I understood that the club paid a lot of money for me so they expect that I’m a machine and I score every game!
“The first games [at Chelsea] I don’t feel like I enjoyed. When I win, it’s very important, but when you join here, it’s like, ‘you win, OK, it’s your job’ and you don’t celebrate – but that’s because I had played for smaller clubs.”
Cucurella revealed more about his family life in Prime Video docuseries Married to the Game. In one scene, the Spain international is moved to tears, seated alongside his partner Claudia, while detailing how dealing with his son Mateo’s autism was initially challenging before his family began to thrive again.
“All the people think that you have a perfect life, but we footballers have normal lives and normal problems that all people have,” he said.
Of the show, he added: “Personally, I didn’t expect that people would love it in this way.
“I was not nervous but, if things don’t go well, people might say, ‘He’s not focused on football, he’s focused on filming this and that’. But it was nice.”
Cucurella is over his struggles now. He says an injury in December 2023 helped him take stock, adding: “I started to enjoy my journey here after my injury. When I was injured, I was three months out, and then I had a lot of time to think about myself and to know me better and what is good for me and what I needed to work on more. This is probably the moment that changed my career.
“I won the last six games with Chelsea [under Mauricio Pochettino], won the Euros and now I am playing my best football.”
He will hope his form continues when Chelsea face Paris St-Germain in the Club World Cup final in New Jersey on Sunday (20:00 BST).
“If we do it, it’s amazing because it’s the first club to do it,” he said.
“We will get to wear a world champion badge on our shirt for four years and all people will remember us as the first club to win the trophy [in its new format].”
