Marc Cucurella says he was paying attention to the transfer attention in him this summer, as Chelsea beat Manchester City to his signature when the Blues refused to pay Brighton's asking price.
Cucurella was strongly linked with City for weeks, with Pep Guardiola admitting recently that he was a top target to replace Oleksandr Zinchenko at left-back. However, City refused to meet Brighton's valuation of Cucurella, with the Spaniard then moving to Chelsea for £55m, rising to £62m.
City have since spent an initial £11m on young left-back Sergio Gomez from Anderlecht to support Joao Cancelo, while Cucurella has made two appearances for Chelsea, registering one assist already.
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Speaking to the media as a Chelsea player for the first time this week, Cucurella acknowledged the interest from City, saying his intention was to join a big club after just one season at Brighton.
"The summer was busy, a lot of rumours," he said when asked about City's interest. "When I was with Brighton in the summer, I thought it was a good moment for me to move to a big club and I think Chelsea are a big club. I am very happy to be here, they were very interested in me all summer, so I'm very happy.
"I am very happy because it's a lot of money and it's a big responsibility for me. I am happy because Todd [Boehly, Chelsea owner] and the gaffer were very interested in me coming here. So I am very happy to be here and I need to work hard, adapt to the team, and be ready to play well for the club."
Asked if he can help Chelsea compete with City and Liverpool for the Premier League title, Cucurella insisted that he will try to help his new side win all the trophies available.
"I think we have a good team, a lot of young players. Winning trophies is very difficult but we work hard all season for these moments," he said.
"The team have the experience to win big trophies, and this is our objective this season. Obviously, the Premier League is one of the best [to win]."
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