Unfinished Business: Players Who Have Returned to Their Clubs
There are few feel-good stories in football as those of players who have returned to their clubs, finishing the unfinished, or helping in times of need.
In the turbulent past years regarding Barcelona, some of its players openly criticized the abandonment of La Masia, its famous youth academy. Carles Perez, its former graduate did it openly and stated that the club should've given more opportunities to the likes of him and Marc Cucurella. Yet the aforementioned Cucurella only managed to play seven minutes for the club he joined in 2012 as a young boy.
Now, this La Masia product has left Spain altogether as Brighton & Hove Albion has paid his release clause to his last club Getafe. The veteran of 106 La Liga matches signed a deal until 2026. The Spanish team will earn €18,000,000 from the move after paying the left-footed player €11,800,000 last summer following his loan from Barcelona.
That wasn't the first time Barca sold Cucurella as his first departure from the ranks of the Catalans came in 2019 when Eibar bought him for €2,000,000, also after a loan. Yet Barca activated the buy-back clause immediately that summer, making Cucurella a personification of the laughable running of the Catalan club.
Popular manager of the Seagulls Graham Potter stressed the importance of Cucurella's CV as well.
"We have been keen to bring Marc to the club, and we are really pleased to finally welcome him here and are excited to begin working with him. He has had a fantastic education in the youth teams at Barcelona and he has gone onto make a real impression in La Liga and within the national set up. He is a versatile player, and he will add competition and options to the squad," stated the English manager.
He's HERE. Welcome, @Cucurella3! ???? pic.twitter.com/OAakFxnkrT
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) August 31, 2021
Cucurella spent time as a youth player with Espanyol before moving across the city to join Barcelona in 2012, where he would play for their B team, going onto make his sole first-team debut in the Copa del Rey in October 2017.
Now, the 23-year-old Spaniard who was was a part of Spain's Olympics team that won the silver medal this summer claims he is in the best league in the world.
"I would like to thank Brighton & Hove Albion to give me the opportunity to play for them in the best League of the world. The warm welcome has been really impressive. I am sure we will have an amazing time together and enjoy this journey during the following years. LET’S ROCK IT!!" wrote the Spaniard.
Brighton also announced the arrival of the 20-year-old right-winger Abdallah Sima who arrived from Sparta Prague and was immediately shipped out to Stoke City on loan.
