Chelsea have wasted no time finding a successor for Marc Cucurella. The club has reached a verbal agreement on personal terms with Marco Palestra, a 20-year-old Italian left-back from Atalanta, as the west London side moves to plug the gap left by their Spanish defender’s departure to Real Madrid.
The deal for Cucurella, finalized on June 15, 2026, saw the left-back head to the Bernabeu for £47.5 million plus £4.3 million in add-ons, a package worth up to £51.8 million. But the more pressing concern for new manager Xabi Alonso is that Jorrel Hato is currently the only established left-back remaining in the squad.
Who is Marco Palestra?
Palestra is a product of Atalanta’s youth system. At 20, he fits the profile Chelsea have increasingly favored under their post-Boehly recruitment strategy: young, projectable, and attached to a reasonable price tag rather than a superstar premium.
Chelsea have also been linked with Gabriel Gudmundsson from Leeds and Pep Chavarria from Rayo Vallecano as alternative left-back options. But the Palestra deal appears to be the most advanced of the three, suggesting he’s the primary target rather than a backup plan.
