Chelsea FC: Pedro In London, Juan Cuadrado Out?
After Chelsea FC were embarrassed by Manchester City at the weekend, the alarm must have gone off in Roman Abramovich’s luxury box at Stamford Bridge.
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Chelsea lacked the creativity necessary to get behind Manchester City’s defence for the entire match. The floodgates opened when the Blues moved to a more attacking-based strategy as Juan Cuadrado and Radamel Falcao came on in the 2nd half.
Jose Mourinho and Abramovich are now well aware that the same squad that made them Premier League champions a season ago will not be able to repeat the feat in this campaign.
![By @cfcunofficial (Chelsea Debs) (Aston Villa 1 Chelsea 2) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2F144a5da1161741bb0476de4b531d3bffd320611a4bc69de651340603508448e5.jpg "By @cfcunofficial (Chelsea Debs) (Aston Villa 1 Chelsea 2) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons")
After a relatively quiet summer transfer window that has seen only goalkeeper Asmir Begovic and defender Abdul Baba Rahman join the West Londoners thus far, news of Pedro signing for Chelsea hit the airwaves. Whether it is a direct result of the putrid display of football from Chelsea last Sunday or it has been planned all along, Pedro appears to be set to join the English champions from FC Barcelona.
The Spaniard has been the subject of transfer speculation all summer with moves linking him to Manchester United and Manchester City as well as Chelsea.
Now, with Pedro likely to arrive at Stamford Bridge, does it spell the end for Juan Cuadrado and Victor Moses? It certainly pushes them further down the pecking order of the attacking midfielders. Cuadrado came to Chelsea from Fiorentina last winter and has failed to impress whenever he has been given an opportunity to prove his worth in Chelsea blue.
Moses, meanwhile, spent the past couple of seasons on loan at Stoke City and Liverpool but had a bright preseason this summer. He even scored the equalizer against Paris St. Germain in Charlotte, but I wouldn’t expect him to see much playing time outside of cup competitions in this campaign. He will mainly be used as a replacement in lower-priority matches.
It seems that Eden Hazard, Oscar and Willian are solidified as the manager’s first-choice attacking combination when they are fit and available. Pedro should work his way into that mix, but may be used in the meantime as a 2nd half substitute for when Mourinho wants to inject life into his attack.
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Having said that, his record warrants a starting place. Last season at Barcelona, Pedro made 35 total La Liga appearances and tallied 6 goals and 6 assists. In the season previous he made 37 La Liga appearances and netted 15 goals with 8 assists. Given that he was often crowded out by the endless attacking options at the Camp Nou, I predict his figures to improve at Chelsea.
Pedro can play on the left or right wing in the Blues attack. Cuadrado can also play either of those positions but the Spaniard is just one year older than Cuadrado, and appears to be a significant upgrade.
Cuadrado has failed to score since making his move to Chelsea in January, even though he made 12 appearances in the Premier League last time out for the Blues. The Colombian international just does not seem to fit in with Mourinho’s system. He has the pace and ability to succeed, but the Premier League looks to be too much for him.
Pedro has excelled in La Liga and will have every opportunity to prove his worth at Stamford Bridge. This could well force Cuadrado to move to a new club this winter. Whether his move will be a permanent deal or just a temporary loan is uncertain, but the fact that he is surplus to requirements is not.
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Chelsea would have been overjoyed if Cuadrado had been able to turn it around this season and find his Fiorentina form that saw him score 11 league goals in the 2013/14 campaign. Unfortunately, it appears as though that ship has sailed as Pedro makes his way to SW6 and pushes Juan further down the bench.
Moses, on the other hand, may be kept to act as that bit part player. Mourinho rejected several advances from Stoke over the summer as the Potters tried to turn his loan move into something permanent, and Pedro’s arrival shouldn’t change his squad role drastically.
Having said that, he was curiously missing from the matchday squad at the weekend and gave an ambiguous excuse on social media a couple of days later. With this development it’s hard to tell.
All stats taken from WhoScored.com
Do you think Cuadrado and Moses still have futures at Stamford Bridge if Pedro arrives? Let us know in the comments below!
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