Chelsea Football Club have confirmed the signing of Colombian international Juan Cuadrado on a four-and-half-year deal. The move will involve Mohammed Salah going the other way on a one-year loan deal.
The club announced on their website, “Chelsea Football Club is delighted to announce the signing of Juan Cuadrado from Fiorentina. The 26-year-old has joined on a four-and-a-half-year contract.”
Cuadrado was quoted saying by the club’s official website, “I am very happy and thankful for this opportunity Ia ve been given. This is a great club and honestly it is like a dream to join the Chelsea family and to know that the manager believes in me. Ia m happy.”
Cuadrado’s signing will cover Andre Schurrle’s departure who left for Wolfsburg. The Colombian is predominantly a wide player and has played in multiple positions for his former club Fiorentina. He was used as a wingback at times thanks to his impeccable work rate and defensive abilities that he possesses in addition to his already impressive attacking talents. At A?27m, Chelsea haven’t had to spend too much as they got most of the money from Schurrle’s sale.
Cuadrado’s stock has risen in the last few seasons and that was underlined at the World Cup where he had a goal and four assists to his name and was a key cog in the Colombian team that made it to the quarterfinals before losing out narrowly to Brazil.
The signing of Cuadrado was all but done as he had confirmed a few days ago that he will be leaving and had thanked the Fiorentina fans on various Social media platforms, a Florence will always be in my heart. The people are extraordinary. The fans full of passion. The Viola launched my career and gave me the opportunity to grow also thanks to a great club and exceptional teammates.
a Now a new journey awaits me. New emotions. New objectives. But always with Florence in my heart. Thank you to everyone! Juan.a
The deal will see Mohammed Salah moving to Fiorentina on a loan deal as the Egyptian hasn’t had too much of game time at Chelsea and as a result, the blues feel that it’d be best if he moves to Florence.
Cuadrado had made 17 appearances so far in the Serie A and had scored four goals and had set up three. He is expected to challenge the likes of Willian and Ivanovic for a first team place. The fact that he hasn’t played in the Champions League is another relief for Chelsea as they’ll be able to use him in the Europe. With the season entering a key period now, Chelsea will be happy to capture a player of Cuadrado’s abilities.
Image Credit: Chelseafc.com