Juan Cuadrado
set for Chelsea medical tomorrow after agreeing move from Fiorentina. The Colombia
star has reportedly flown to London and is ready for the tests.
The 26-year-old
is set for a £23.3m move - which will include add ons and could also see
Mohamed Salah move the other way on loan - as Jose Mourinho looks to bolster
his squad.
Cuadrado shot to
prominence last summer in Brazil with Colombia reaching the quarter-finals.
Cuadrado, is
expected to sign a four-and-a-half-year deal at Stamford Bridge having agreed
personal terms following negotiations undertaken by his agent, Alessandro Lucci.
Crucially, he is also available to play in the Champions League, which resumes
next month with a last-16 tie against Paris Saint Germain.
Vincenzo Montella, the Fiorentina manager, said on Friday afternoon: “I want to be honest: it [the sale of Cuadrado] was something that had to be done. As a coach I’m sorry because technically he is such a good player but the club has made the right decision.
We get a great player in Salah although we will need some
time to adapt to each other. Salah is not quite the same player as Cuadrado and
can’t play as a quinto, so we will need a ‘vice-Joaquin’.
“Is is a
distraction? We are used to it. It is not anyone’s fault and we can’t use
Cuadrado’s exit as an excuse for tomorrow’s game. Could we have kept Cuadrado
until the summer? Yes, possibly but he always gave everything for the club and
he would have done again if he had played tomorrow. He is an ultimate
professional and I am happy for him because he is joining a big club. We have
to show that Cuadrado is not the only reason we are where we are.”
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