Chelsea have agreed personal terms with Marc Cucurella ahead of a proposed £50m move and are also set to sign young goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina for £12m, according to reports.
Cucurella was initially expected to join Manchester City this summer after submitting a transfer request last week in order to try and push through a move to the Premier League champions.
However, City refused to meet Brighton’s asking price and Chelsea hijacked the proposed move on Monday. Widespread reports claim the West Londoners have agreed to pay Brighton’s £50m valuation, putting them firmly in pole position to sign the talented defender.
Fabrizio Romano now claims that Chelsea have agreed personal terms with Cucurella and the player is ready to accept a move to Stamford Bridge once a formal deal has been settled between the two clubs.
Talks are expected to continue today to complete the deal, so Cucurella is edging closer to joining Chelsea in what would be a major coup for the Blues considering the 24-year-old was widely tipped to join City.
Cucurella was voted as Brighton’s Player of the Year last season following a superb debut campaign having only joined the club from Getafe in a £15m deal last summer.
The Spanish international is predominantly a left-back so will compete with Ben Chilwell but can also play on the left side of a back three, so he’ll provide Thomas Tuchel with options in defence.
Cucurella may not be the only new arrival heading to Stamford Bridge soon as The Sun claims that Chelsea are on the verge of signing highly-rated goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina is a £12m deal from Chicago Fire.
According to the newspaper, the 18-year-old completed his medical on Monday and will sign a six-year contract with the Blues before being sent back to Chicago Fire on loan to continue his development.
Slonina has emerged as one of the hottest young talents in American football and has started all 23 MLS games so far this season, keeping 10 clean sheet in the process.
The American is set to become Chelsea’s third signing of the summer following the arrivals of Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly. And if the Blues are able to pull off a £62m double swoop also involving Cucurella, then it won’t be long before Tuchel has his fourth new signing wrapped-up.
