Cucurella will end it as a Euros winner with Spain and now a first-choice with Chelsea.
He told Marca: "The best year of my career? Up until now, yes. I think there was a bit of everything. It was also a tough year because I had an injury, but I think that injury changed my life a bit, the way I see everything, the way I understand it. You spend a lot of time alone, away from your teammates, or engaged in recovery or rehabilitation activities.
"And it is there, when you are alone, that what you do is only for yourself. So you begin to understand that, if you work every day, there can be a reward. And in this case it was the European Championship, the call from Luis de la Fuente.
"It was a year of ups and downs. I think he didn't play a single minute in the first seven league games. There were some chances during the transfer window, but we decided to stay.
"So I went to talk to (Mauricio) Pochettino and told him I was ready, that I would be available when he needed me. Then there was a cup game where both right-backs were missing, and the manager called me and said: 'Have you ever played right-back?'
"I told him not very often, but he told me he was thinking of putting me there, and I said yes. I felt good, I had confidence. After training I spoke to (wife) Claudia and my agents, telling them I wanted to try out as a right-back. They weren't very convinced, but I told them to stay calm, that I felt fine. We played Brighton, we got through to the next round and from there I played every game until I got injured. Then it was a new beginning."