Former Fiorentina winger Juan Cuadrado has only been at Chelsea since January, but is obvious to all concerned that bringing him to the Premiership was a huge mistake as he has not only failed to adapt in Chelsea’s team but also to the nature of play in the English league.
Just watching the Colombian in the few short instances he has played for the Blues it is hard to imagine why they paid £26.1 million for him when they already had Mohamed Salah on the books.
It is true to say that like Cuadrado the Egyptian did nothing while at the Bridge, but he certainly hit the ground running when he arrived in Florence scoring six gaols in his first seven games for the Italians.
Fiorentina now would like to make his loan a permanent deal but may face opposition from Tottenham, who were impressed with the 22-year-old when they met Fiorentina in the Europa League.
From what we are hearing it looks as though Chelsea has now given up on the 27-year-old Cuadrado and that he will either be sold to a Serie A side this summer or be used as a bargaining chip for new signings.
Manager Jose Mourinho has a great record in the transfer market making money on his dealings for Chelsea, but must take the blame and admit he screwed up signing the Colombian, who yet again proved you may be better trying to sign a player who has already proved themselves in the EPL rather than gamble on a foreign import who may not be able to handle moving to a new country and the physicality of the game in England, as also appears to be the case with Manchester United’s £60 million record signing Angel Di Maria.
