It took a World Cup and the best part of three months, but Marc Cucurella finally got his Real Madrid moment on Monday afternoon. The Cucurella presentation was held behind closed doors in the boardroom at Ciudad Real Madrid, with club president Florentino Pérez and honorary president José Martínez Pirri alongside him as he signed a contract that runs to June 2032, took possession of a replica of the Santiago Bernabéu and posed for the photographs every Madridista has seen several times this summer.
It is another in the run of ceremonies Real Madrid have staged this month, and the tone has been consistent: no stage, no scarf held aloft, no packed auditorium. What made this one land differently is who was standing there. The left-back arrives as a world champion, has barely had a pre-season, and walks straight into a week in which Los Blancos play twice at home. Madrid Universal and Bernabéu Digital both covered the ceremony, streamed in full on Real Madrid TV.
The Cucurella Presentation, Word For Word
Speaking to the club’s own channel after the ceremony, Cucurella did not bother playing it cool.
“It’s a great source of pride. It’s a very special day. The summer has felt long, but it’s an honour to wear this shirt, the shirt of the best club in the world. Hopefully it will be a great chapter and we can win many trophies,” he said.
Bernabéu Digital reported the same words in Spanish, adding that he dedicated the day to his family and that the club marked the occasion with the customary tribute video running through his best moments. “The summer has felt long” is the honest line in there. Madrid Universal report that he completed his move on 15 June and then disappeared into international duty, which is why this is only happening now, two days after the season kicked off.
A Champions League Is The Ambition
Asked what he wants from his time in Madrid, he went straight to the trophy the club measures itself by. “Hopefully I’ll be lucky enough to have some great seasons and win a Champions League,” he said — a reasonable priority at a club that has won it 15 times and did not get past the quarter-finals last season.
He was just as direct about the ground itself. “I’m really looking forward to playing at the Bernabéu. I know how imposing it is and the influence it has during comebacks. This is going to be one of the most beautiful chapters of my career,” he added. Anyone who has watched a European night there from the visiting bench will recognise the sentiment. He has now swapped ends.
From Getafe To The Bernabéu
The route here was not a straight line. A product of the Barcelona academy, Cucurella went from Eibar to Getafe before leaving for England five years ago, where Brighton & Hove Albion and then Chelsea turned him into one of the more awkward full-backs in the Premier League to face. Madrid Universal put the fee at €55 million, paid days before he joined up with Spain and became one of the standout performers of their World Cup win.
He has not had it entirely smooth since arriving, either: his first outing in white came with a hostile reception, as the Schalke friendly demonstrated. And the left-back shirt is not being handed over. Álvaro Carreras has done nothing to give it up, having started José Mourinho’s first competitive match at Cornellà.
Two Home Games, And A Second Special Day
The squad returned to training on Monday, and the week is a heavy one: Real Sociedad at the Bernabéu on Wednesday 26 August, then Málaga at home on Saturday 30 August. Bernabéu Digital add that Wednesday brings another moment for the defender, with the club set to honour him for winning the World Cup with Spain.
So the ceremony was only the warm-up. The proper introduction comes on Wednesday night, in front of a Bernabéu that has waited all summer to get a look at him — following the path Ibrahima Konaté took earlier this month, from a quiet boardroom to the noisiest stage in football.
