The Chelsea FC Loan Report, Part 1: The Chelsea Expendables
2. Juan Cuadrado
Juan Cuadrado (full name Juan Guillermo Cuadrado Bello) is a 27-year-old winger, hailing from Colombia. The South American, much like Salah, is well known for his fast and direct style of play.
Unlike Salah, Cuadrado didn’t come to Chelsea’s attention as a result of scoring against the club. The Colombian flyer had built a reputation for himself during his time in Serie A, scoring or assisting a goal 41 times in 96 games for Chelsea’s favourite Italian friend, Fiorentina.
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It was during the 2014 World Cup when Cuadrado really shot to fame. Alongside star player James Rodriguez, he helped his national team reach the quarter finals of the competition. Cuadrado finished the tournament with the joint most assists (4), tied with Germany’s Toni Kroos, despite playing 2 less games than the World Cup winning Real Madrid midfielder.
Chelsea signed Cuadrado for a fee of £23.3m (potentially rising to £26.8m) during the same 2014-15 winter transfer window that saw Salah head in the other direction. It was also the same window that saw German forward Andre Schurrle leave the London club for VfL Wolfsburg, so a replacement was needed to ensure depth in the attacking third of the pitch.
After joining Chelsea, Cuadrado had the following to say about his move to England:
"This is a great club and honestly it is like a dream to join the Chelsea family and to know that the manager believes in me. I’m happy."
During his spell at Stamford Bridge, the Colombian managed only 13 appearances, 9 of which came from the substitute’s bench, providing no goals or assists in the process. It appeared as though Jose Mourinho’s early belief in the player did not last long at all!
Cuadrado very quickly became a source of frustration for Chelsea fans
At times Cuadrado looked as though he wouldn’t be out of place playing for a team in the lower divisions; such was his wastefulness and odd positional sense. I am perhaps doing players in the Championship and League 1 a disservice.
He very quickly became a source of frustration for the Chelsea fans, despite the team marching to the title. It was all too apparent that he didn’t possess the quality that Blues supporters had become accustomed to.
Last week, on the 25th of August, Juventus came to Cuadrado’s rescue, taking him back to the league where he had performed so admirably, on a season long loan.
Next: Chelsea Expendable No. 3: Marko Marin