Marc Cucurella, captain of Spain's Under-21 side, is enjoying life at Getafe and believes his loan experiences have helped him develop as a player. Cucurella is a product of the Barcelona youth academy, but was unable to break into the first team at the Camp Nou and spent time on loan with Eibar, then Getafe, before the latter snapped him up for 10 million euros in the summer.
"Due to circumstances beyond my control, I wasn't able to show what I can do at Barcelona," Cucurella told Radio MARCA. "But that has allowed me to develop at Eibar and Getafe. "Staying in Barcelona wasn't up to me. If I have the chance [to go back] one day...we'll see.
"Clearly the style at Getafeis different to at La Masia. But adapting to [Jose] Bordalas' game has made me grow and that's positive for me. "Having different things in my locker gives me an advantage." The 22-year-old feels well suited to the style of play at the Estadio Coliseum Alfonso Perez and is focussed on making up for the disappointment of last season when Getafe narrowly missed out on European football.
An important player in Spain's U21
"We've been having a few good years at Getafe," Cucurella continued. "The style suits me and last season was a bit gutting, we want to finish this one well."
Currently captain of Spain's U21 side, Cucurella is hopeful he can one day step up to Luis Enrique's La Roja team. "It's difficult to get in and there are a lot of good players," Cucurella stated.
"And I treat the national team as a bonus and if Luis Enrique gives me the call I'll enjoy it and learn from it." Cucurella is one of a number of players in Luis de la Fuente's Under-21 squad playing regular LaLiga Santander football and his lucky boxer shorts have been attracting attention recently. "My partner bought me the Simpsons boxers," Cucurella joked, "and at first I wasn't sure but I scored a goal in pre-season, I wore them again and I scored. "They've become my lucky pair!"