‘Looks like a bad £60m spent’

Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella has not impressed Gabby Agbonlahor this season.

The Spaniard joined the Blues from Brighton and Hove Albion for around £60million in the summer transfer window.

He made his debut on matchday one, coming on for the final 15 minutes during the win at Everton.

Cucurella then started the next five Premier League matches, playing the full 90 minutes of four of them.

And under his former Brighton boss Graham Potter – who replaced Thomas Tuchel as Blues head coach last month – Cucurella has only started and finished one league match.

Against Manchester United last week, the 24-year-old was hauled off after 36 minutes as Potter made a tactical change.

And he struggled against his former on Saturday as Chelsea were battered 4-1.

Taken off after 64 minutes with his side 3-1 down, Agbonlahor has hinted that Ben Chilwell should be starting ahead of Cucurella.

He has not been too impressed with Cucurella this season, insisting he has “looked okay” for no more than two games in his Chelsea career.

“I’ve watched Cucurella since he’s been at Chelsea, there’s been maybe two games maximum where he’s looked okay,” Agbonlahor told talkSPORT.

“He got dragged after 36 minutes against Manchester United, he was the one that had to be sacrificed for the formation.

“Today [against Brighton], sacrificed in the 64th minute.

“£60m they paid for him and you’ve got Ben Chilwell sitting on the bench.”

Agbonlahor was also critical of Potter’s tactics and rotation.

“This is what I’m saying about the problem with Graham Potter,” he continued.

“When it works everyone is like ‘amazing, great rotation’ but today, why is Aubameyang not starting, why is Chilwell not starting? These players can play two games in a week.

“There’s three weeks left before the World Cup. These players can play more than Graham Potter wants to play them. Too much rotation and Cucurella looks like a bad £60m spent by Chelsea.”

Saturday’s defeat at Brighton was Chelsea’s first loss under Potter.

Next up is Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League before they host Arsenal in a huge London derby.

The tough fixtures continue after the Gunners clash, with a trip to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup and Newcastle United at St James’ Park rounding up their pre-World Cup fixtures.

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