Will he go? Will he not? Those questions hung over the future of Fiorentina’s Juan Cuadrado during the summer. Six months later, the Colombian is all but set for a Premier League switch to join Chelsea.
Most Chelsea fans will be wondering what they can expect from Cuadrado however. The fact is that the Colombian is quite the atypical player, but what Jose Mourinho has bought is a very versatile player.
Fiorentina had set a €40 million buy-out clause in Cuadrado’s contract, which scared much of the interested parties — Barcelona and Bayern Munich at the time — during the summer. Since then, the buy-out clause has decreased and Chelsea are favourites to activate it after selling Andre Schurrle to Wolfsburg.
The German’s exit is interesting relative to Cuadrado’s arrival. On the head-to-head, it is hard to choose one over the other. Athleticism and versatility are the main differences between both. In effect Cuadrado brings a more physical, direct and muscular approach that fits Jose Mourinho’s style a bit more. Indeed, that physicality fits the English Premier League style better.
The most critical difference between the two players is one of versatility, more precisely a difference in the axes each player is able to cover.
Schurrle can play all across the forward line: a horizontal axis. Conversely, Cuadrado is an exclusively right-sided player, but able to play all along the right flank: a vertical axis.
There is a great deal of emphasis on verticality when it comes to Mourinho’s style of play. That variance from Schurrle, beyond his athleticism, will be Cuadrado’s greatest contribution to Chelsea.
The further up the field, the greater an impact Cuadrado is able to have on a game. At the World Cup, he played as a wide forward. The Colombian’s ability to carry the ball with a single lung-busting run is an extremely potent weapon on the counter-attack, and one which allows a team to carry an immediate goal threat even when playing slightly deep.
As a right midfielder, he can contribute in both sides of the ball and isn’t shy of putting in a tackle. As a full-back or wing-back, he lacks tactical awareness defensively but makes up for it with an important offensive output.
Cuadrado’s dynamic style will be something Mourinho will have looked for, given how his Chelsea side has looked to have slowed down and waned in intensity recently.
The injection of pace Cuadrado will bring will be a welcomed addition and, with him and Eden Hazard flanking Diego Costa, could become very reminiscent of Chelsea’s wing-play duo of Arjen Robben and Damien Duff when Mourinho first joined the club.
Finally, Chelsea purchased a player that isn’t cup-tied and will thus be eligible for the UEFA Champions League. With taking advantage of transition plays being so critical in Europe — and it effectively being Mourinho’s modus operandi — Cuadrado will prove to be a savvy and useful acquisition.
Whether it will be as a starter or as an impact sub, Chelsea have acquired a Swiss Army knife of a player in Cuadrado, able to affect a game differently depending on how high up the pitch he is played. A quality Mourinho is sure to relish.
Follow Ogo Sylla on Twitter at: @RossonerOgo_3
