Almost Done – Chelsea Could ANNOUNCE £26.5m Transfer Next Week
Oh, How times change in football !
Hark back to January this year. The winter transfer window opened with rumors linking Chelsea with Fiorentina star Juan Cuadrado. The Viola weren’t keen on selling their star man. However, Chelsea’s financial clout proved decisive as they finally managed to secure the Colombian International’s services for £26.5 million. In exchange, partly to ease the Florence based club’s troubles on losing their best player, and partly to get his wage off their books, they sent Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah the other way. Salah had been deemed an expensive failure since moving to Stamford Bridge in January 2013 and Chelsea seemingly had no use of him.
Fast forward to the present and things could not have been more contrasting for the two players. The roles have reversed , the tables turned. Cuadrado has become the unwanted man at Chelsea , while Fiorentina are desperate to ensure Salah’s stay. One has failed to convince with his stuttering performances, the other has risen like a phoenix from the depths of despair to become a highly coveted player.
While Salah took the Florence club by storm, easily being the best player for the club since his arrival, banging in six goals in sixteen league games, and garnering praise for his unrelenting pace and trickery, Cuadrado has mostly looked a rabbit under the headlights. He has not settled in the club at all, failed to nail down a spot in the first team place and has a grand total of zero goals to his name in 12 appearances for the Blues.
The Daily Star has now reported that Chelsea are hoping to sell the non performing winger quickly this summer and are prepared to auction him all over Europe in order to recoup some part of their initial investment in the player.
However strong the ‘notoriously impatient’ reputation the Blues have garnered for themselves over the years be, this quick fire sale represents severe short termism from the club. Six months is not ample time for a club to judge a player brought from overseas, but according to the outlet, that will not stop the club trying to offload him quickly. It has also been claimed that the club have set a price tag of around £24.5 million on the player, as they do not wish to make much of a loss on a player they brought for £26.5 million just six months ago. This is a far cry from the situation in the winter break in Italian Football – when Italian giants of the likes of Juventus and Roma were interested in the player who was held up as the next breakout star to emerge from Serie A.
The Star have also claimed that Atletico Madrid are reportedly interested in the Colombian International and are looking to sign him as a replacement for the recently departed Arda Turan. The Spanish club believe that Cuadrado can rediscover the touch of his Fiorentina days at the Vicente Calderon and can guide the Red Half of Madrid to new heights next term.