Chelsea flop Cuadrado a perfect fit for Juventus
Juan Cuadrado touched down in Italy on Monday evening and was promptly mobbed by Juventus supporters as he tried to make his way to the car waiting to whisk him away to Turin ahead of his proposed loan move from Chelsea.
Blues fans could be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss was about. After all, many are still trying to work out why their side decided to splash £23.3 million (€32 million) on the Colombia international during the January transfer window. They had expected to see the thrilling winger that had illuminated last year's World Cup in Brazil; a mix of industry and ingenuity that seemed certain to slot straight into Jose Mourinho's first team - yet ended up appearing unworthy of the reserves.
Juve, though, could barely contain their excitement at having agreed a loan deal with Chelsea for the former Fiorentina ace. "He's arrived!" read a message released on their official Twitter feed on Monday. "And he immediately got an extraordinary welcome."
And that was in Milan! Cuadrado is guaranteed an even warmer greeting in Turin. The sense of excitement among the
Bianconeri faithful is understandable, though. Cuadrado has attracted attention since he first arrived in Italy in 2009, when he joined Udinese from Independiente Medellin. Indeed, Mourinho - then in his second and final season at Inter - was immediately taken with the Colombian and never stopped tracking his progress.
Despite spending two years in Udine, it was only during a loan spell at Lecce during the 2011-12 season that Cuadrado really began to prosper, earning himself a move to Fiorentina, where he flourished, becoming one of the most exciting and versatile wing-backs in Serie A.
Former Viola forward Luca Toni was so awestruck by a particularly energetic and incisive display against Juventus three years ago that he jokingly asked his young team-mate: "Did you have a scooter? It seemed like you were going up and down that flank on a Vespa!"
Juventus have been watching Cuadrado closely ever since. In February of last year, former boss Antonio Conte instructed director general Giuseppe Marotta and sporting director Fabio Paratici to sign the South American. In a bid to give greater versatility to a side reliant on 3-5-2, the coach wanted a player capable of playing wide right in both his first-choice formation and an alternative 4-3-3 system.
Conte may have departed that summer - tellingly, over a failure to acquire his chosen transfer targets - but the desire for tactical flexibility remained and has now been embraced by his successor, Massimiliano Allegri.
As Marotta acknowledged before Sunday's Serie A opener against Udinese: "Our interest is not in taking players for specific roles... If we search for players for only one position, we risk limiting ourselves to players not of the highest level."
The message was clear: Juve want new recruits of quality and adaptability. Cuadrado ticks both boxes as the personification of versatility; a player as comfortable attacking as he is defending. Indeed, the offensively-minded Brazil full-back Dani Alves last year welcomed Barcelona's reported interest in signing the then-Viola ace as his potential replacement: "If they can recruit him, then I encourage them to do it," he said.
Former Fiorentina boss Vincenzo Montella also noted after Cuadrado bagged both goals in a 2-1 win over Chievo in October 2013 that his most prized possession was not just restricted to playing on one flank. "Juan is unique with his characteristics, as he scored while playing wide on the left in a 4-3-3 yet almost netted again playing on the right in a 3-5-2. So, he can do anything."
Montella even came to the conclusion that Cuadrado had the requisite intelligence and vision to play off a No.9. In that sense, it is tempting to suggest that Cuadrado could also be the unlikely answer to Allegri’s pleas for a trequartista to be signed before August 31.
However, the smarter - and far more likely - option will be to deploy him on the right, with Montella explaining: “Cuadrado loves to play wide on the flank. He likes to 'feel' the touchline because he can be unpredictable for the opposition from there.”
Indeed, we are talking about a player that former Fiorentina and Bayern Munich forward Mario Gomez claims is on “the same level as [Franck] Ribery” and that Thierry Henry says is a striker’s dream: “He’s a special player. He can beat anyone at any time and he’s a proper winger also – that’s something you don’t see often now; guys that want to go down the line and beat people and cross. That’s what you want if you’re a striker.”
That will be music to the ears of Juve centre-forward Mario Mandzukic, who was not given anything to work with from out wide in the shock 1-0 loss at home to Udinese, with both of the hosts' wing-backs, Stephan Lichtsteiner and Patrice Evra, looking well past their sell-by-dates as they struggled to get up and down their respective flanks. As Fabio Licari wrote in his match report in the
Gazzetta dello Sport: “Allegri would have killed for Cuadrado.”
Still, Juve have belatedly got their man, a winger who offers blistering pace, endless energy and a multitude of tactical options - precisely what Allegri has been crying out for. Cuadrado may not have fit in at Chelsea, but there should always be a place for him in the Juventus starting line-up – whatever system they play.
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