Cucurella completes £51.7m Real Madrid move as girlfriend's farewell message goes viral

Marc Cucurella has joined Real Madrid from Chelsea in a deal worth £51.7 million including add-ons, ending the Spanish left-back’s four-year stay at Stamford Bridge. The 27-year-old completed the move while on international duty with Spain at the World Cup.

Speculation over Cucurella’s future had been building for weeks, but the confirmation of an agreement still caught many by surprise when it emerged on Sunday night. He originally joined Chelsea from Brighton in 2022 after a standout season in the Premier League with the Seagulls.

The most widely shared reaction to the news came not from the player himself but from his girlfriend, Claudia Rodriguez, who posted a heartfelt farewell to Chelsea supporters on Instagram.

“I don’t know how to say goodbye to my home,” she wrote. “Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this experience; I feel so lucky for everything we’ve shared these past years. I arrived with two babies and I’m leaving with two little boys and a British girl, and I don’t know how I’m going to explain to them that Chelsea is no longer part of our lives.”

Rodriguez added: “Everything we’ve experienced these past years has been a pure learning experience; we’ve lived through it all, but above all, we’ve enjoyed this journey. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this chapter of our lives, thank you to my girls, whom I’m going to miss a lot, and thank you to every Blue I’ve met. I wish you all the best; London will always be Blue.”

Chelsea issued a brief statement wishing Cucurella well as the move to the Bernabeu was finalised. “Everyone at Chelsea FC would like to thank Marc for his efforts during his time at the club and for the role he played in our recent achievements,” the club said. “We wish him every success as he begins the next stage of his career.”