Traditional Boxing Day fixtures were today the subject of an interview that Brighton & Hove Albion fullback Marc Cucurella gave to Cadena Ser.
The Spaniard claimed to be happy to be playing just after Christmas for the first time, and says he’s excited for Sunday’s match against Brentford.
“I remember a couple of years ago when I saw that there were games in the Premier, I told my partner that I would like to play at Christmas, that it has to be special,” Cucurella told Cadena Ser (via Sport).
“We are lucky that on the 26th we play at home in front of our people.”
Cucurella also talked about his time at Barcelona following his many years at the club. He claims things hadn’t been going great back then, and saw their current crisis coming.
“Things had not been done well for a long time and now they have exploded. They will have two or three years in which it will be difficult for them to compete for the titles, but the youth players are finding the key.”
Now far away from home, the 23-year-old doesn’t regret his choice of moving to England, and is glad his academy teammates made it to the first team.
“I’m not sorry because otherwise I would not be where I am. I didn’t have that opportunity, that door was closed for me but others were opened to me.
“I’m happy for them. I used to see them in the dining room and it doesn’t give me any anger, we were teammates who had the same illusion: to play in the first team.”
Cucurella joined Barcelona’s academy back in 2012. He belonged to the club until 2020, when following a loan at Getafe, he ended up being sold in a €11.8m deal. It didn’t take long for him to draw attention from the Premier League, and one year later, his move to Brighton was done for €18m.
