We are not miserable yet as wait goes on over Marc Cucurella

The message from the North West remains that Manchester City will make their move for Marc Cucurella “soon”.

For Morrisey and Johnny Marr writing songs for The Smiths, the question was: How Soon Is Now?

In terms of what we hear from their home city these days, soon isn’t now - and it never seems to get any closer.

It is pretty much why we keep hearing about Cucurella.

Or make that Clickurella. His name gets likes, retweets and clicks so people use it and write about him.

A little secret. I am asked on a regular basis to write something about the smiling left-back because such pieces do well online.

And, yes, intermittent updates are fine.

But it often seems pointless when there is nothing new happening.

At some point, something may well change.

The window does not close for two more months and even superpowers like City can go into the new season with some transfer business still pending.

Cucurella is developing into the transfer saga of the summer.

The future of Yves Bissouma was quickly settled, leaving a void in terms of talking about football when there is none going on.

Some very reliable sources have told us all that City like Cucurella and that seems very feasible.

Everybody likes him. But, we are informed, City would like to sign him.

They can certainly afford him.

And the Catalan link makes for an added dimension, another connection to make.

We know Cucurella is ambitious and he made it VERY clear to Getafe he wanted to leave when Albion came in for him last summer.

We know he has four years left on his contract.

We know Manchester City would pay him a lot more than the Seagulls do.

We can guess a move to City would help him into the Spain squad.

We know whoever runs Cucurella’s Instagram account briefly liked a mention of City’s interest in him (just like Bissouma liked two comments mentioning him in relation to Arsenal when he would have known he was going to Tottenham).

We know he is back in training with Albion at their Lancing complex.

We know and we splashed it across our back page in big letters last week that Albion have no need and no wish to sell their player of the season.

We can’t keep saying it every day but that remains the case until otherwise stated.

At The Argus, we have been told by a very good source in Spain, who was spot-on with all things Cucu last year, that one of the player’s representatives travelled from Madrid to Manchester a couple of weeks ago.

And, from elsewhere, we are again told that the City bid will come “soon”.

It has been suggested that Chelsea are “in the mix” which sounds interesting but it is not obvious what that actually means.

We are told by some ‘sources’ that personal teams have been agreed.

No doubt they would be sorted very quickly if Albion and City actually struck a deal.

That puts us into the territory we were in with the Ben White move to Arsenal.

If it appears something is pretty much a formality, there will be those who want to be first to report it – even before it has actually happened.

Should Albion agree to sell him, City and Cucurella would agree personal terms, no doubt. It would indeed be a formality.

But it is hard to see how such a thing can be reported as done just now.

If soon becomes now, one would have thought Albion would insist on £50 million or more for Cucurella.

It is five years since they moved into the Premier League and were somewhat wide-eyed when their first opponents - Manchester  City, appropriately - paid £50 million for Kyle Walker.

MARC CUCURELLA ALL SMILES ON RETURN TO BRIGHTON TRAINING

Fifty million for a full-back!

Five years on, it does not seem so ridiculous. More like the going rate.

So what happens now? The same. The ball is in City’s court.

They will know what it would take to get their man – and whether Cucurella is indeed that man.

Albion have Solly March as a ready-made wing-back or they will have options to go for in the market.

They will look to have Adam Webster back to full fitness while the return of Jan Paul van Hecke from loan is an intriguing prospect.

Both those defenders are relevant bearing in mind Cucurella played in the back three at times last season.

Soon might become now at some point.

It would be a great shame to see Cucurella go.

But heaven knows we’re not miserable yet.