Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Chelsea are ready to splash the cash for flying winger Cuadrado
CHELSEA are weighing up a bid in the region of £27m for Colombian star Juan Cuadrado as they expect to lose either Andre Schurrle or Mohamed Salah during the current transfer window.
Fiorentina’s Cuadrado has also been linked with Manchester United since his outstanding performances at the World Cup last year.
But who is the flying winger who has struck fear into the hearts of defenders over the last couple of years?
The right wing is his highway and with his direct approach, close control and accurate crossing, Cuadrado would be a real asset for any team.
His athleticism also enabled him to withstand a fair deal of punishment – defenders don’t take kindly to the type of humiliation Cuadrado doles out and, as one of Serie A’s most- fouled players, needs resilience.
One aspect of his game that has improved is his finishing, as shown by the 15 goals he scored for Fiorentina last season, a three-fold increase on the campaign before that.
Speaking in 2013, Cuadrado revealed how he’d worked hard at improving this aspect of hs game.
“I spend hours and hours shooting at goal after training,” he said.
“Who knows how angry the goalkeepers Neto and ( Cristiano) Lupatelli are at having to hang back with me before they’re able to hit the showers.” CUADRADO was born in the coastal town of Necocli, which is one of the oldest settlements in Colombia, though he was raised further south in the city of Tumaco.
His father, Guillermo, a truck driver, was shot dead when he was just five years old.
Speaking on a Colombian interview show, his mother Marcela said he had to be the perfect student in order to play football.
Playing as a forward, Cuadrado started out at Atletico Uraba but on the recommendation of the club’s founder Nelson Gallego, he was moved to the wing.
After a brief spell at second division side Rionegro, where he mostly languished on the bench, he was signed by Independiente Medellin, one of the country’s biggest clubs, in 2008.
Cuadrado scored on his debut against Boyaca Chico and the wheels were soon in motion. CUADRADO only actually spent one season at Independiente. He attracted interest from Italian clubs and duly joined Udinese on a five-year contract in July 2009.
Opportunities were initially limited for the 21-year-old, who made just 12 appearances in his first season and the same number in his second, failing to score a goal in either.
A change of scenery was probably a good idea and he was sent out to fellow Serie A side Lecce for the 2011-12 campaign. With more regular football, Cuadrado started to show his talents, scoring three goals and setting up two more in a season of 33 league appearances.
It wasn’t enough to keep Lecce in the top-flight but his performances did catch the eye of Fiorentina. They paid £4.5m for a 50- percent ownership stake in Cuadrado. In his first season at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, he opened his account in a 4-1 win over Cagliari and finished the season with five goals and seven assists as the Viola finished fourth.
But 2013-14 was his breakthrough season, with a string of impressive performances leading to 15 goals and 11 assists in all competitions.
The most important came against his former club Udinese in the semi-final, second leg of the Coppa Italia, securing a 3-2 aggregate success and a place in the final against Napoli (which they lost 3-1).
His profile boosted by the World Cup, Cuadrado has continued to excel and has five goals and three assists this season so far. CUADRADO earned his first international call- up for Colombia a year after his transfer to Udinese, playing and scoring against Venezuela in September 2010.
Since then, he has been a regular in the side, with 37 caps and five goals to his name. – Daily Mail