It has certainly not been an easy transfer window for Chelsea and their new owner Todd Boehly. No matter which promising player the Blues seemed to approach in the market, in the final stages of the deal Barcelona have come out of nowhere and hijacked it.
Thanks to the late show from the Catalans, the English side have missed out on Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski and Jules Kounde who all should have joined Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly as top signings to flag off Chelsea’s new era.
But it appears the roles were reversed earlier this week as Chelsea was able to don the role of the ‘hijacker’ after the club successfully warded off interest from local rivals Manchester City to complete the transfer of Brighton man Marc Cucurella for a fee of £62 million.
The 24-year-old had agreed on personal terms with City however, the Manchester club failed to agree on the price set by Brighton. But some quick work from Boehly and camp enabled them to match the price and convince the Spaniard to join Thomas Tuchel’s side instead.
With the left-back having joined training already, Chelsea supporters will now be keenly awaiting a possible debut against Everton on Saturday.
But even before kicking a ball for the Blues, rejecting the advances of the defending PL champions appears to have impressed numerous Chelsea fans who have composed a brand-new chant for their new signing matched to Rihanna’s “Umbrella”.
The song also featured Jay Z released back in 2007 as a part of the album Good Girl Gone Bad and was an instant hit that has remained popular even today. But what has attracted Chelsea fans to this song would be the chorus with the lyrics that go, “Under my umbrella / Ella, ella, eh, eh, eh” as it perfectly rhymes with Cucurella.
“Came from Spain despite the weather,
Barca said I can’t pull another lever,
City said hey but he wanted better,
Now he’s the pride of London Cucurella ella ella eh eh”
While the chant is meant to praise their new signing, it also aimed digs at both City and Barcelona who have been Chelsea’s main rivals in the transfer market this season. Given that Cucurella began his career with Barcelona’s youth academy (La Masia), the deal only became sweeter for Chelsea thanks to this little detail.
While there were reports that Barca intended to activate a third economic lever (as mocked in the chant) to hijack the Cucurella transfer from the Blues, it looks like the English side were finally able to get one over the Catalans during this window.
As Chelsea travels to take on Everton in their season opener, supporters of the club would be hoping to unveil this chant to welcome their ‘hijacked’ signing in style.
