After joining Chelsea from Brighton in 2022, Marc Cucurella initially failed to win over the Blues’ fans. However, he has gradually won their hearts with his performances. In an interview, Cucurella revealed the personal struggles he once faced, which clearly took a toll on his form.
Cucurella said: “You join a top-tier club where the priority is winning, winning and winning more—you can feel that pressure. At my previous clubs, if we didn’t win, a point was still good, and a loss wasn’t the end of the world; you just focused on the next game. But at Chelsea, you have to win every match, and that weighed heavily on me.”
“Suddenly, I also had some difficulties in my personal life. We weren’t happy, and there were issues at home. When you’re in a good mood, everything goes smoothly; but when you’re a bit sad or not feeling great, those emotions affect you and stop you from fully committing to football.”
“We couldn’t find the right path. We sent Mateo (Cucurella’s eldest son, who has autism) to a school, but he cried every single day. We dropped him off at 8 or 9 in the morning and picked him up at noon, and he’d cry the entire morning. We’d take him to school crying, then get back in the car... I remember we looked at each other, not wanting to talk about it. We even cried ourselves. During that tough time, we had no idea what to do—it was really hard.”
“Mateo was still very young, only two or three years old. We took him to the doctor, and they said he might have autism, but they couldn’t be sure because of his age. The school told us Mateo was different from the other kids, but they could offer an extra hour of tutoring. We felt completely lost back then.”
“Claudia (Cucurella’s wife) started looking for help online, and later we found a therapy center in London. We drove there, and Claudia went in alone for the first interview and to look around the school. She came back over the moon and said: ‘This is the school he needs.’ From that moment on, everything got better. It was a really positive process that brought us immense joy and help.”
“Mateo is a special boy. The good thing is he has no ill will and a kind heart. He doesn’t understand everyday things as clearly as others, not like his brothers do. When he faces problems or setbacks, he can’t fully grasp them, so we need to explain things in different ways. We’re trying our best to help him reach his full potential.”
