Chelsea's new signing has better stats than Marc Cucurella
Chelsea announced their 11th signing of the summer on Wednesday as Pep Chavarria arrived at Stamford Bridge.
The 28-year-old left-back has joined the club from Rayo Vallecano and has signed a five-year deal.
The transfer has cost the Blues an initial £16.3million plus £1.7m in possible add-ons.
Chavarria is now set to be a replacement for Marc Cucurella, who joined Real Madrid back in mid-June.
There is hope that the addition of the defender can now help lead Xabi Alonso’s men back to Europe this season.
Below, Football Insider has explored everything fans need to know about Chavarria now that the transfer has been completed.
Who is Pep Chavarria?
After progressing through Figueres’ academy, Chavarria made his debut for the club at just 18 years old in 2016.
At the Spanish club, he quickly established himself as a first-team player, which earned him a move to third-tier side UE Olot in 2018.
Here, he would continue to impress, and in 2020, Real Zaragoza snapped Chavarria up, ready for their campaign in La Liga 2.
At the club, the left-back once again became an established first-teamer, but was unable to guide Zaragoza into the playoffs, as they finished 15th and 10th in his only two campaigns at the side.
In 2022, he finally reached La Liga as he made the move to Rayo Vallecano.
Once again, it was not long before Chavarria became a hit in the side, and he helped the club achieve back-to-back eighth-place finishes in La Liga in his final two campaigns at the club.
On top of this, he played a key part in Rayo Vallecano’s run to the Conference League final last campaign, before they were defeated by Crystal Palace.
How does Chavarria compare to Marc Cucurella?
While Chavarria may not be the perfect replacement for Cucurella, the defender has plenty of solid stats from his final campaign in La Liga.
According to Fotmob on 12 August, per 90 minutes, he was averaging 1.81 tackles, 1.04 interceptions, 0.47 blocked shots, 4.77 recoveries, 2.89 clearances and 0.30 clean sheets.
Comparing this to Cucurella, the former Chelsea full-back was averaging 1.83 tackles, 1.06 interceptions, 0.27 blocked shots, 3.75 recoveries, 2.89 clearances and 0.30 clean sheets per 90 minutes in the Premier League.
Therefore, if Alonso wanted a left-back with similar defensive traits, he is not going to get much closer than Chavarria.