Chelsea roped in Colombian midfielder Juan Cuadrado for a sizable £23.3m transfer fee, which may rise to £26.8m, on the transfer deadline day. In the process, they sold Andre Schurrle for £24m to VFL Wolfsburg. Also, they loaned out Mohammad Salah for 6 months to Fiorentina.
Cuadrado came to fame during the 2014 World Cup. The Colombian international performed brilliantly in the tournament and helped his side to reach the quarter-finals. The midfielder has been playing in Italy since 2009. After spending 3 seasons with Udinese he joined Fiorentina in 2012.
Juan Cuadrado is predominantly a winger but can also play as a supporting striker behind the centre forward. He has a commendable speed which is extremely necessary for Mourinho’s Chelsea. He can very well feature in Jose Mourinho’s 4-2-3-1 formation as a right winger. He can also score goals quite frequently, which is an added bonus.
Andre Schurrle was a quality winger and scored goals for the club. A major problem with Schurrle was his pace. He was fast but not up to Mourinho’s expectation. Jose Mourinho expects his midfielders to track back fast when they lose possession. This was one of the key reasons why the Portuguese manager let go Chelsea’s one of the best midfielders, Juan Mata last winter. The Colombian recruit will be a perfect cover for Willian and can also feature in the first team.
Juan Cuadrado scored a total of 26 goals for Fiorentina in three seasons. Andre Schurrle on the other hand joined Chelsea last season and during his tenure of 65 games, he scored 14 goals.
If we look at the deals from a technical point of view, it looks to be a like for like replacement for Chelsea. Both Schurrle and Cuadrado are predominantly wingers and can play as a supporting striker if required.
From the players’ point of view, the deals look perfect. Juan Cuadrado, who performed commendably for 3 seasons in Fiorentina colours, deserved to don the jersey of a bigger team. Schurrle on the other hand, deserved more game time and staying in Chelsea will surely not help his cause. Andre Schurrle will perfectly fit into Wolfsburg’s team, who are currently on the second position of the Bundesliga table.