One club that seems to be making life hard for many top footballers or at least wingers is Chelsea. The Blues have had a pretty poor time with the wide men right from the days of Shaun Wright-Phillips to Marko Marin and now to Juan Cuadrado.
Did we forget to mention Andre Schurrle and Mohamed Salah? The Blues have spent bucket loads on their winger options and another big signing, Juan Cuadrado, suffered the curse of the wingers at the London club.
The Colombian came with a lot of fanfare when he did join Chelsea after impressing at Fiorentina, but things have not gone as he would have liked. The 28-year-old joined in 2015 for a reported fee of £23 million, which was to rise up based on performances but he never really clicked at the club and was sent out on loan at the start of last season.
Cuadrado has actually done much better in Serie A, a league he knows very well and there were doubts about him adjusting to the rigours of the Premier League. He wouldn’t be the first player to not perform in the intense league and it does seem that Chelsea are trying to find a buyer for him.
The Blues probably won’t get the same money for him but they do need to get rid of him. Nobody wants him to become another Victor Moses or another Marko Marin, who have constantly gone out on loan at various clubs with no real chance of making it into the Chelsea team, ever.
Antonio Conte could provide a bit of an escape route for the Colombian, but even the Italian knows that he needs to get players that are comfortable with his playing style and not someone who does not really perform on a regular basis.
Cuadrado’s time in Juventus wasn’t all that great either as he only scored five goals and provided five assists in 41 appearances for the club from Turin. In fact almost half of his appearances came off the bench and it showed how much he has fallen from grace, after all, Cuadrado was one of the best players in the Serie A during his time with Fiorentina and also with Colombia during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Jose Mourinho did state when signing Cuadrado:
“He needs time to adapt to the Premier League. I know Italy and I know the difference between Italy and England; his formation, his development, his experience – everything was in Italy.”
Sadly for the 28-year-old, he still has not been able to adjust to the Premier League and it does seem that even Barcelona are trying to sign him. Whatever the bid does come, Chelsea should just grab it with both hands and let go of a player that is costing them a lot of money when it comes to wages.
Another failed winger at Chelsea but hopefully Antonio Conte can get some things right next season and obviously, the transfers would have to be one.