Real Madrid met with the agents of Riccardo Calafiori before moving swiftly to agree a deal to sign Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella. Chelsea have permitted the Spain international to join Jose Mourinho's Real revolution in a deal worth up to £51.8 million.
Cucurella is currently in the United States with Spain for the World Cup and is expected to feature in Monday's opener with Cape Verde, but looks unlikely to return to west London at the conclusion of the tournament. The left-back signed for Chelsea in 2022 from Brighton and flourished under Enzo Maresca, but spoke out against the Premier League club in March, blaming their recent struggles on the Italian's departure and criticising the policy of signing young players.
Catalunya-born Cucurella started his career at Real's bitter rivals Barcelona, but made only one appearance for the club in the Copa del Rey before a spell at Getafe transformed his career. Two years at Getafe alerted Brighton to the services of the attacking full-back, and Cucurella was snapped up by Chelsea after only one season in the Premier League. Cucurella moved to Stamford Bridge in a deal worth a reported £60 million and has made 163 appearances.
The 27-year-old becomes the latest player to move to the Bernabeu in an early summer window transfer blitz that has seen deals for Ibrahima Konate, Denzel Dumfries and Bernardo Silva concluded. Real, according to Fabrizio Romano, also made contact with Calafiori's representatives but will not make an offer for the Arsenal star, despite having initially wanted to sign a player capable of operating at left-back as well as centre-half.
Calafiori joined the Premier League champions from Bologna two years ago after impressing with Italy at the European Championships. The 24-year-old has established himself as a firm favourite of Mikel Arteta's, but injuries have regularly undermined his progress at the Premier League champions. Indeed, it was those fitness concerns that prompted Arsenal to sign Piero Hincapie from Bayer Leverkusen last summer, and that duo largely shared left-back duties last term.
Real, meanwhile, also expressed interest in signing Manchester City's Josko Gvardiol, who missed much of last season through injury. The Croatia international, who is due to feature against England next week, is set to sign a new contract at City and commit his long-term future to the FA Cup and Carabao Cup holders.
