Chelsea\u2019s latest arrival, Pep Chavarr\u00eda, has stepped into a role that naturally invites comparison with Marc Cucurella, even if the numbers do not mirror the full story. The left back has joined on a five-year deal and arrives with the challenge of offering the same kind of value from wide areas after Cucurella\u2019s summer departure.<\/p>\n
Chavarr\u00eda may not share Cucurella\u2019s distinctive image, but he does bring his own case for optimism. Speaking to Chelsea\u2019s in-house media after signing on Wednesday, the 28-year-old outlined a profile built on energy, balance and intensity.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a player, I love to attack, defend, box-to-box and I have a lot of intensity,\u201d the 28-year-old told Chelsea \u2019s in-house media team after he signed a five-year contract on Wednesday. \u201cI have a lot of energy on the pitch. They are my biggest abilities. I have played in Spain all my life, and for me the Premier League is the best league in the world right now, with a lot of quality and intensity. I think that it\u2019s the best league for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The statistical picture is revealing. During the 2025-26 league season, Chavarr\u00eda attempted far more crosses than Cucurella, posting 97 per 90 compared with 43, while also creating 27 chances. Cucurella, meanwhile, finished with 39 chances created and four assists in 34 appearances. Chavarr\u00eda made 33 appearances and logged 2,681 minutes.<\/p>\n
Rayo Vallecano\u2019s use of him was built around steady service from the flanks, and Chelsea may be looking for a similar outlet more often. The club crossed less frequently than almost half of the Premier League last season, but that pattern could shift under Xabi Alonso.<\/p>\n
Alonso is understood to have been the key driver behind the move for his compatriot, which is reported to have cost $28.8 million (\u20ac25 million). Chavarr\u00eda also spoke warmly about settling in, saying, \u201cAs a person, I am very friendly and familiar,\u201d and \u201cI\u2019m very happy to be here and I want to meet my new teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chelsea have added Pep Chavarr\u00eda, a left back with energy, crossing volume and clear ambitions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18424,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[190],"tags":[1162,182],"class_list":["post-18425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea","tag-analytics","tag-transfers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}