As the countdown for the January transfer window to shut down entered its final few hours, not many clubs were expecting to tie down last minute deals. That is except for Chelsea. Jose Mourinho’s side have lost their aura of invincibility over the past month and have decided to bring in a fresh face in the form of Fiorentina’s Juan Cuadrado who was confirmed as a Chelsea player just a few hours before the window shut down at 11pm on the 2nd of February.
The Blues sealed the £23.3million deal which will rise to £27m with add-ons, therefore meeting the Colombian international’s release clause who he will be available to make his debut against Aston Villa.
Mohamed Salah went in the opposite direction having not started a single Premier League game this season. He was also chased by Mourinho’s former club, Inter but Fiorentina loaned the Egyptian winger until the summer with an option to extend the deal by a further year in which case they will have to pay €1 million.
Also on his way out of London was World Cup winning German Andre Schurrle for an initial £24 million rising to £27m to Wolfsburg. The former Bayer Leverkusen winger started just five league games for Chelsea this season and has been deemed surplus to requirements in light of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play restrictions imposed on the league leaders.
The 24-year-old was also linked with Borussia Dortmund as they look to tie up a replacement ahead of Marco Reus’ inevitable departure in the summer.
In the past year, Chelsea have made £140 million by selling the likes of Juan Mata, David Luiz, Romelu Lukaku and Schurrle. This is some excellent business in terms of the FFP which has seen other big spenders like Manchester City and Paris Saint Germain fined for over spending.
In total, Mourinho has signed 17 players and sold an astonishing 25 since his arrival to balance the books while the club has 23 players loaned out at the moment. Finally, Mourinho has Inter’s Mauro Icardi as his next target, however it is unlikely that Chelsea will make a move for him until the season is over.
Negotiations over a new contract with Inter haven’t gone smoothly and with Champions League qualification looking more and more unlikely, the Argentinean striker could be on his way out of the San Siro in the summer.