Many Newcastle United supporters wouldn’t have heard about the player Rafael Benitez reportedly wanted back in 2019.
But now, that same footballer could potentially be joining Manchester City this summer.
Three years ago, The Chronicle reported that Newcastle had scouted a young Marc Cucurella and were interested in bringing him to St James’s Park.
He wound up joining Getafe from Barcelona for £8.5 million and now he’s one of the Premier League’s best left-backs, having eventually found his way to Brighton & Hove Albion.
Suffice to say that time has proven that Newcastle probably should’ve went all out to bring him to Tyneside back then.
That’s particularly because, well, The Athletic has reported that Manchester City are confident they’ll sign him this summer.
Remember, this is a 23-year-old.
If he succeeds at Eastlands, and it’s very probable that he will, then he’s going to be worth an absolute fortune.
And the fact Newcastle could’ve had him for as little as £8.5 million will hurt some sections of the Magpies’ fanbase.
Other supporters won’t care too much because incase it wasn’t already very obvious, the North-East outfit are going to be a much bigger club over the coming years.
But even still, Cucurella seems to symbolise the Mike Ashley era in the sense of nothing really going right for the club, mainly because the left-back who wound up joining that summer was Jetro Williams – on loan from Eintracht Frankfurt.
Some weeks after The Chronicle report about Cucurella, Benitez left St James’s Park.
Had he stayed, it makes you wonder whether the Manchester City target would’ve wound up at Newcastle.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
