Chelsea: Marc Cucurella remains a doubt for Man City clash despite returning to training

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·2 January 2026

Chelsea: Marc Cucurella remains a doubt for Man City clash despite returning to training

Spaniard tweaked hamstring against Aston Villa last week

Chelsea are still undecided on whether Marc Cucurella will be fit to return from injury in time to face Manchester City on Sunday.

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The Spaniard asked to come off with pain in his hamstring in the second half of the 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa on December 27.

He then missed the 2-2 draw with Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge three days later, which marked the first time he had been unavailable for a Premier League match for the Blues in 373 days.

He was involved in the training session on Friday morning.

Cucurella is the only natural left-back in the Chelsea squad, so is under pressure to play a lot of minutes for the Blues, but caretaker manager Calum McFarlane — who is in charge against City following Enzo Maresca’s departure — has not yet been given final confirmation over whether Cucurella can return against City at the Etihad.

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Speaking on Friday, McFarlane said: “Yeah, that is positive (that Cucurella trained on Friday). We're undecided on [whether he can play], so I don't really have the full information on that as of yet.

“I'm sure it will come out in the next couple of days.”

Maresca had said at the Bournemouth match that he did expect Cucurella to be available at the Etihad.

Asked whether there were any other updates on injured players, McFarlane replied: “No, sorry.”

Speaking about picking his team to face City, McFarlane admitted: “It's difficult to pick any team at any moment. We'll obviously be speaking to the medical team. Obviously that's coming back from injuries we have to manage like you do at any club at any level."