{"id":11652,"date":"2026-05-22T01:06:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T01:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=11652"},"modified":"2026-05-22T01:06:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T01:06:14","slug":"enzo-maresca-targets-chelsea-player-set-on-leaving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=11652","title":{"rendered":"Enzo Maresca targets Chelsea player &#8220;set on leaving&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Marc Cucurella is a top target for Man City this summer, and Enzo Maresca could be a key factor in that transfer.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><em>If you enjoy Chelsea News coverage and want to see more of it, add us as a preferred source on Google to make us a favourite and see more of our content.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>With Pep Guardiola now looking certain to leave Man City and Enzo Maresca heavily favoured to replace him, a new strand of Chelsea transfer rumour is going to emerge.<\/p>\n<p>Former managers are always linked to players from their previous clubs, and we expect the line between former Blues coach and some of our players to be drawn a few times this summer. It\u2019s already begun, and Maresca hasn\u2019t even been confirmed yet.<\/p>\n<h2>Cucurella has his head turned \u2013 but could be turned back<\/h2>\n<p>Our writer Simon Philips has today claimed that Maresca has already been speaking to Marc Cucurella and warming him up for a potential move this summer.<\/p>\n<p>With just two years left on his deal and no intention to sign a new one, \u201cChelsea will absolutely sell him this summer,\u201d and the full back has been \u201cset on leaving\u201d since January.<\/p>\n<p>With Xabi Alonso now confirmed as our new manager, it wouldn\u2019t amaze us if there was scope to change Cucurella\u2019s mind, however. But if he wants to go, his contract situation means the club won\u2019t stand in his way.<\/p>\n<h2>In other news\u2026<\/h2>\n<p>Chelsea had very little turnaround after losing the FA Cup final on Saturday, and Robert Sanchez has explained why that was difficult.<\/p>\n<p>Andrey Santos had a really nice game against Tottenham on Tuesday night, keeping the ball perfectly and also breaking up play.<\/p>\n<p><strong>DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL CHELSEA NEWS APP FOR ALL THE LATEST UPDATES \u2013 STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE! ON THE APP STORE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Check out the latest edition of Simon Phillips\u2019 SPTC podcast here:<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"SPTC Podcast! Fresh Xabi Alonso to Chelsea news! Summer Transfer Plans! FA Cup Final Preview!\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yiYy60DQcxI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<section class=\"more-stories std-mgn-b\">&#13;<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<header class=\"col-s-12 std-mgn-t\">More Stories about <span class=\"topic\">Marc Cucurella<\/span><\/header>\n<div class=\"post-container col-s-4\">\n<p>\t\t\t&#13;<\/p>\n<div class=\"img-cntr\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-68-190x107.jpg.webp 190w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-68-245x138.jpg.webp 245w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-68-320x180.jpg.webp 320w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-68-414x233.jpg.webp 414w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-68-630x354.jpg.webp 630w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1230px) 250px, (min-width:1020px) 20vw, (min-width:920px) 290px, (min-width:680px) 30vw, (min-width:394px) 130px, 33vw\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-68.jpg\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-156132 has-webp lazyload\" alt=\"Andrey Santos with Marc Cucurella.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Working-copy-of-CNFeaturedHero-Image-Templates-68-190x107.jpg 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srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chelsea-v-aston-villa-premier-league-4-190x127.jpg 190w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chelsea-v-aston-villa-premier-league-4-245x163.jpg 245w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chelsea-v-aston-villa-premier-league-4-320x213.jpg 320w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chelsea-v-aston-villa-premier-league-4-414x276.jpg 414w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chelsea-v-aston-villa-premier-league-4-630x420.jpg 630w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1230px) 250px, (min-width:1020px) 20vw, (min-width:920px) 290px, (min-width:680px) 30vw, (min-width:394px) 130px, 33vw\"\/><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-container col-s-4\">\n<p>\t\t\t&#13;<\/p>\n<div class=\"img-cntr\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Getty-Images-6-190x127.jpg.webp 190w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Getty-Images-6-245x163.jpg.webp 245w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Getty-Images-6-320x213.jpg.webp 320w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Getty-Images-6-414x276.jpg.webp 414w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Getty-Images-6-630x420.jpg.webp 630w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1230px) 250px, (min-width:1020px) 20vw, (min-width:920px) 290px, (min-width:680px) 30vw, (min-width:394px) 130px, 33vw\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2250\" height=\"1500\" src=\"https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Getty-Images-6.jpg\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-160387 has-webp lazyload\" alt=\"Xabi Alonso looks on from the touchline.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Getty-Images-6-190x127.jpg 190w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Getty-Images-6-245x163.jpg 245w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Getty-Images-6-320x213.jpg 320w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Getty-Images-6-414x276.jpg 414w,https:\/\/icdn.chelsea.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Getty-Images-6-630x420.jpg 630w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1230px) 250px, (min-width:1020px) 20vw, (min-width:920px) 290px, (min-width:680px) 30vw, (min-width:394px) 130px, 33vw\"\/><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n<\/section>\n<p><!-- Article End -->\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Marc Cucurella is a top target for Man City this summer, and Enzo Maresca could&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11653,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}