Chelsea 'have trick up their sleeve' as real reason for Marc Cucurella's surprise exit explained
Marc Cucurella's early summer move to Real Madrid could have more than meets the eye amid PSR concerns at Chelsea.
That is according to former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider that the Blues may still be battling off-the-pitch issues with PSR and UEFA.
While away on international duty with the Spain team, it was announced that Cucurella would be joining Los Blancos, reportedly on a £52million deal.
The transfer appeared to come completely out of the blue, but since speaking out about it, the full-back always had a dream of playing for the La Liga giants.
With at least two more years left on Cucurella's deal, with an option of an extra year, fans have been left confused by the deal, especially given the player's age and talent.
He has been an ever-present over the the last four seasons at Stamford Bridge, but new manager Xabi Alonso will now have to move forward without the attacking left-back.
PSR backed to play key role in Marc Cucurella sale
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson is not sold on the idea that the Blues cashing in on Cucurella is purely transfer-related this summer.
"It's not so much I'm critical of it, but he seemed to be one of their better players. I think there's a reason for them selling in in June and and doing the deal quickly.
"I think they probably have got some challenges from some of the regulatory stuff that's still there, the settlement with UEFA, potentially even with PSR.
"But they've probably got something up the sleeve. They're probably selling something again internally, some other bricks and mortar or some land.
"I don't know what it is, but it seems to me that, without some more player sales or asset sales, that they're short on the PSR calculation, and on the UEFA calculation.
"We'll see. They always seem to find a way, and people seem to be prepared to allow them to find a way by selling things that are quite surprising that you're able to sell. So, we'll see."
Who else could Xabi Alonso lose ahead of 2026-27?
Right now, the Chelsea squad looks huge, and Alonso could have to offload a lot of deadweight ahead of the 2026-27 campaign.
Marc Guiu, Jamie Gittens, Liam Delap, Benoit Badiashile, and Andrey Santos could all find themselves on their way out of Stamford bridge this summer.
The Blues still have Emmanuel Emegha to welcome into the squad, and that will throw a spanner into the current forward line.
Delap looks like the most obvious of exits, with multiple Premier League clubs keeping tabs on his situation, and he's unlikely to be the only departure in the coming weeks.