Why Chelsea boss Frank Lampard left out £60 million star in 2-0 Brentford defeat

Chelsea summer signing Marc Cucurella missed the crushing 2-0 home defeat to Brentford after injuring himself in training just days before the game.

The Spanish full-back signed in the summer for a staggering £60 million from Brighton and Hove Albion has endured a difficult first season at Stamford Bridge but managed to play in 23 league games with three substitute appearances.

In what has been a truly forgetful campaign for the Blues, Cucurella is one of the stars who was expected to hit the ground running having heavily impressed during his only season with the Seagulls before securing his big move to Chelsea.

Manchester City had been front runners for the Cucurella and were reportedly ready to part with £40 million for his services, but when Chelsea made their move they changed the negotiation and City could not just match both the selling figures and wages.

But it’s been a nightmare start to life and Lampard confirmed he was nowhere to be seen at Stamford Bridge because he injured himself while training.

The 44-year-old Lampard told the press after his fifth straight defeat: “Cucurella is injured. He injured himself in training two days ago. He will be out for a few weeks with a quad injury. Bettinelli injured, recovering. The others, are not in the squad.”

Frank Lampard was hoping that he could lift the mood at both the training ground and Stamford Bridge when he took over from Bruno Saltor, but he’s lost all five games so far and will lead his team to the Emirates this weekend to face an Arsenal side who have not won a game in their last five attempts including a 4-1 thumping at the hands of Manchester City.

Both teams will be desperate for a massive response.