Brighton Owner Offers Transfer Update On Marc Cucurella Amid Manchester City Talk

Manchester City have executed the bulk of their summer transfer business early on in the window.

Pep Guardiola’s side got a foot in front ahead of the rest by wrapping up a £14 million deal to sign Julian Alvarez from River Plate in January.

In May, the Sky Blues then finally caught the big fish in the transfer market, by beating the likes of Real Madrid to land the much-awaited signing of Borussia Dortmund frontman, Erling Haaland.

Just recently, Manchester City officially announced the arrival of Kalvin Phillips from Leeds United - who has been recruited largely as a replacement for Fernandinho, who left the club upon the expiry of his Etihad contract this summer.

Additionally, various outgoings have emerged such as Gabriel Jesus to Arsenal, Gavin Bazunu and Romeo Lavia to Southampton, Darko Gyabi to Leeds United, CJ-Egan Riley to Burnley, and potentially Raheem Sterling to Chelsea as well.

The only box seemingly left to tick for the Premier League champions is securing the services of Marc Cucurella from Brighton & Hove Albion.

It has been previously reported that the club are prepared to let go of Oleksandr Zinchenko this summer, with the aforementioned Spaniard eyed as a replacement, in a decision made back in May.

Another major claim that has been made is that Pep Guardiola is keen on working alongside his fellow countryman, who emerged as one of the most in-form left-backs in England last term.

With all the signs pointing to the 23-year old joining the East Manchester outfit in the coming weeks, a fresh update details why a deal is yet to be struck.

As relayed by Andy Naylor of the Athletic, Brighton have not received an official offer from Manchester City to sign Marc Cucurella yet.

It is however highlighted that owner Tony Bloom has publicly admitted that the club will not stand in their talismanic defender’s way, if the Sky Blues put in an ‘acceptable’ bid to sign him.

Tony Bloom told The Athletic, “He was unbelievably good last season, his first season in the Premier League."

“We’re hoping for more to come and we haven’t had a bid for him.”

While some may be surprised by how the potential transfer still seems a distance away from reaching an agreement, similar revelations were made in June.

It was stated that the Seagulls had no intention to sell the former Getafe defender, and their hand will only be forced if Manchester City present an ‘irrefutable’ offer to the club.

Directly on the subject of a potential transfer, Bloom explained, “I’m not going to speculate on individual players we may or may not get bids for. The fact that there is speculation and there is interest in our players, I always view that as a positive. It hasn’t always been like that.

“There’s less than three or four clubs where some of the players are not for sale.

He continue, “We’ve got to be realistic if a certain bid comes in and the player wants to move, the player will move, but we are not anticipating, we’re not looking for our best players to move on.

“If it happens and we get a bid then we have to consider it, but until that point, we carry on.”

With a fee in excess of £50 million quoted for Cucurella, it is likely that the Sky Blues wish to sign their number one defensive target in a similar price range to Kalvin Phillips.

Ultimately, this deal may well drag on in the coming weeks, as Brighton will intend to take home a handsome fee for their biggest asset, while Manchester City aim not to pay over the odds.

However, the expectation in various quarters remains that Marc Cucurella will be plying his trade at the Etihad Stadium next season, but all comes down to the clubs at present.