Throughout the summer Manchester United kept picking up links to Colombian wing-wizard, Juan Cuadrado. The Fiorentina ace put on a few fantastic displays at the 2014 World Cup, so it’s a little surprising that nobody swooped in with a deal to sign him.
It’s all the more surprising given his overall form over the last year. He made 43 appearances for Fiorentina last season and he found the back of the net 15 times. This year he’s played 17 times and he’s grabbed 4 goals. He’s clearly extremely effective in the final third.
This is mostly down to his pace, remarkable technique and direct attacking nature. On his day he’s a very exciting player to watch.
Manchester United fans may be glad that they ended up signing Angel Di Maria instead, but I still can’t help but feel that Cuadrado could do a job for them. Now that Nani is on loan with Sporting Lisbon, Antonio Valencia is offering diminishing returns and Ashley Young is being his usual inconsistent self, an extra winger wouldn’t go amiss.
So what should we make of The Metro‘s claim that Cuadrado is ‘ready to force through’ a January move to a club who’s capable of providing him with Champions League action next season. He must feel that Fiorentina aren’t capable of doing that.
On the other hand, with The Red Devils stringing some results together, it looks like they’ll be back among the European elite next season.
The aforementioned source also suggests that Fiorentina would want as much as £40m in return for Cuadrado. That’s a huge amount of money, but we’re talking about a player in his peak here (he’s just 26-years-old and he’s got experience at every level of the game).
Given the improvement he’d offer over Manchester United’s current options, perhaps this deal is worth considering. Louis Van Gaal’s first priority should be fixing his defense, but after that, why not bring in an exciting talent like this?
What’s your take? Should The Red Devils snap up this £40m Serie A talent?
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