This Is Why Manchester City Should Sign Marc Cucurella This Summer

For many years, and particularly throughout the Pep Guardiola era, Manchester City have possessed one of the strongest squads in European football.

However, despite the breadth of astonishing talent at the Catalan manager's disposal, many of the club's fans have long-desired for City to recruit a natural left-back – a position often regarded by many supporters to be somewhat of a weakness in the squad.

When Pep Guardiola first took charge of City in 2016, his options at left-back consisted of Aleksandar Kolarov and Gael Clichy, both of whom were the wrong side of 30 years-old when the former Barcelona boss arrived and could reasonably be considered to have been well past their best and were simply not up to scratch.

In a bid to amend this glaring issue, both players left the club in 2017 and were replaced by Benjamin Mendy and Danilo, both of whom proceeded to underwhelm, whilst Oleksandr Zinchenko and the outstanding Joao Cancelo have since performed admirably as makeshift left-backs.

However, as Manchester City have just two senior full-backs in their squad in Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo - both natural right-backs - an evident lack of depth remains and a yearning exists amongst the club's fans for the Etihad's decision makers to finally recruit a top-quality, natural left-back to bolster the squad. There is one man who many fans view as the ideal candidate.

Enter, Marc Cucurella.

A product of Barcelona's infamous La Masia and a proud Catalan, Cucurella joined Brighton last summer from La Liga side Getafe for a fee in the region of £15 million. The Spanish international promptly took to his new surroundings as he enjoyed a stellar debut campaign in the Premier League.

Owing to his energetic performances laced with attacking flair, the 23-year-old quickly endeared himself to Brighton’s fanbase whilst his consistently excellent showings and innate ability across the left-flank led to the defender duly being named the south coast club's Player of the Season for the 2021/22 campaign.

For those unfamiliar with Marc Cucurella’s ability going forward, the underlying statistics provide an insight into why the left-back has been linked with a move to Manchester City in recent weeks.

For instance, throughout his debut season on the South Coast, Cucurella averaged a respectable pass completion percentage of 82%, and remarkably, Joao Cancelo (845) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (630) were the only defenders to have bettered the Catalan's 530 passes completed in the final third last term.

Additionally, only seven Premier League defenders produced more accurate crosses than the Brighton full-back throughout the campaign, whilst Cucurella’s cross success percentage of 25% was superior to the likes of revered crossers of the ball such as Lucas Digne (24%), Andy Robertson and Aaron Cresswell (both 23%).

The underlying stats evidence the 23-year old’s capabilities in the attacking third and owing to this, it is understandable why Brighton’s standout performer last term is understood to be a major target for Manchester City this summer.

However, Cucurella’s attacking prowess is not the only reason why the Spanish international is on the club’s radar.

Along with his apparent excellence in the final third, the Catalan has also shown himself to be a quick and smart reader of the defensive side of the game, and this, in conjunction with his energetic style of play indicates that he would be a fine addition to Pep Guardiola’s squad, and the data certainly reflects this.

Whilst the left-back’s defensive ability is evident to those who watch Brighton regularly, the stats back up the notion that Cucurella is more than adept defensively. Last term, he completed 93 tackles throughout the season - a stat bettered in the Premier League by only three players. Along with this, he also recovered possession on 247 occasions – the most amongst the league’s defenders.

Another of Marc Cucurella’s traits that would appeal to Pep Guardiola is that along with his defensive acumen and composure on the ball, the Spanish international possesses a distinct appetite for pressing – a key feature of his game that convinced Brighton to acquire the defender in August of last year. However, Cucurella’s unique skillset will also mean that Graham Potter will be reluctant to lose the player and the Seagulls’ would surely drive a hard bargain for one of their key players.

In recent days and weeks, Manchester City have been strongly linked with a move for the Spanish international, and the aforementioned stats more than indicate that Marc Cucurella would be an excellent addition to Pep Guardiola’s squad.

On paper, for both City and Cucurella, the move appears to be a quintessential no-brainer; the club would gain an excellent, young left-back exceptional at both the attacking and defensive aspects of the game, whilst Cucurella would be able to experience Champions League football alongside some of the best players in the world and to regularly compete for major honours under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola.

Only time will tell whether a potential move comes to fruition, although if Marc Cucurella does join Manchester City this summer, the data indicates that he would be an excellent signing for the reigning Premier League champions.