Chelsea break even on Juan Cuadrado’s loan-to-own contract at Juventus

Juan Cuadrado was, for all intents and purposes, a full-fledged Juventus player early in the season. After triggering the transfer clauses in his loan contract, he is now fully free of his ties to Chelsea.

Chelsea have conducted some confusing, byzantine and sometimes preposterous loan deals over the years. Even with Michael Emenalo’s history, Juan Cuadrado’s situation particularly stands out. However, to the credit of all parties involved, things worked out smoothly and with minimal drama for the clubs and, more importantly, Cuadrado himself.

Chelsea loaned Cuadrado to Juventus last season after Cuadrado made a handful of appearances for the club in 2014 and 2015. Last summer, they loaned Cuadrado back to Juventus on an unorthodox three-year loan deal. The two clubs packed that contract with a number of contingencies and triggers that would obligate Juventus to buy Cuadrado if met. Rumours at the time were that 25 appearances in a season would be one such trigger.

Cuadrado made 29 appearances – including 20 starts – for Juventus this season. The Serie A champions announced yesterday that, in accordance with the loan’s terms, they had permanently acquired the Colombian midfielder.

"Juventus announces that, following the meeting of the conditions provided by the contract, its obligation to definitively acquire the registration rights of Juan Cuadrado from Chelsea became due. The permanent transfer fee of € 20 million is to be paid in three annual instalments starting from the 2017/2018 financial year. – Juventus FC"

The spacing out of the three payments may be a way of skirting Financial Fair Play regulations. Chelsea purchased Cuadrado from Fiorentina for £23 million. Between the £17 million transfer fee and loan payments already made, Chelsea at least break even on the entire business. The Blues may also collect an additional payment if Juventus win the Champions League this season.

Juan Cuadrado is one of the most intriguing cases of “what could have been” at Chelsea. He was already a distant cast-off when Antonio Conte arrived. Even though his 2016/17 loan to Juventus did not begin until August 31, he was never really in consideration for Conte’s squad. He had as little place in Conte v1.0 as he did under Jose Mourinho.

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However, once Conte shifted to the 3-4-3, Cuadrado could have been a valuable addition. He would have required less re-training than Victor Moses to play as right wing-back. Cuadrado would have been the obvious choice to start in that position in the early days of the new formation. Moses would have had to challenge Cuadrado for that position, and Cuadrado would have the advantage of incumbency to go with his more natural skill.

At the very least, Chelsea would have some much-needed depth at wing-back. That would have precluded the unfortunate experiments of Pedro in that role.

In the end, things worked out for everyone. Victor Moses became a surprise star and world-class wing-back, attracting the attention of Barcelona in the January rumour mill. Juan Cuadrado will play in the Champions League final, and no longer has to worry about his future. Juventus secured the player they wanted. And Chelsea have more money to spend this summer than they may have planned.

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All’s well that end’s well. But going forward, if the Blues can avoid this much commotion for what is ultimately a neutral, break-even outcome, all will be the better for it.