Manchester United’s summer target Juan Caudrado is on the verge of penning down a contract extension with his Florence based employers but Manchester United fans need not despair, the Colombian could still make a switch over to Old Trafford.
Juan Caudrado took the world by storm when his partnership with Real Madrid’s new boy James Rodriguez at the World Cup blossomed in what saw the Fiorentina winger creating 8 chances and setting up 4 assists for Colombia. The 26-year-old had also impressed greatly with Vincenzo Montella’s side creating 60 chances and bagging 11 goals. Presently, Cuadrado has won 56% of his take-ons this season and this has further sparked the interest of Manchester United and German giants Bayern Munich, in fact in this summer Louis van Gaal strived to convince Fiorentina into releasing their coveted winger but the deal stuck when the Italian club refused to shift on Cuadrado’s £40m price tag.
Now, reports from Spain suggests that the Colombian is very close to getting a new deal from his employers but Fichajes.net indicate that an agreement of a deal could improve Manchester United’s chances of landing the winger and here’s how;
Juan Caudrado has reportedly insisted that his buyout clause be reduced from the present £40m to about £27m and experts have pointed to this clause as a subtle means to make an imminent transfer more probable.
While it is still unclear why Juan will demand a reduction in his buyout clause, since the contract he is about committing to will tie him to the club till 2019, some pundits have maintained that this might be another attempt by the winger to frustrate talks with his employers and also make him easily available to potential suitors by January. However, if Juan is this desperate, wouldn’t he have switched in the summer with all the persistent calls by clubs specifically Manchester United?
Whatever the case may be, if Fiorentina agree to a buyout clause reduction, then they can expect that by the New Year, at least five clubs will come knocking on their doors with enough cash to trigger the ‘new’ clause.
For a player who can also fit in well as a full back, it is not surprising as Manchester United manager has refused to let go. Back at the recently concluded World Cup in Brazil, the Dutchman must have been eyeing the players who could efficiently implement his three man (3-5-2) formation, and as soon as he assumed duties at Old Trafford, van Gaal signed up the left footed Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind who played under van Gaal at the World Cup and Angel Di Maria who could operate like ArjenRobben. So if he eventually acquires Juan Cuadrado and probably Kevin Strootman by January, how then will the 3-5-2 formation fail to deliver?