Colombia’s Juan Cuadrado will be shipped from one championship team to another. After languishing on Chelsea’s bench, the 27-year-old Costeño will look to compete for a starting spot at Juventus, last year’s champion of the Italian Serie A.
In an interview with the Italian sports talk show Premium Sport before Sunday’s loss to Udinese, Juventus sports director Giuseppe Marotta confirmed the deal and said an official announcement could be made later Monday.
Cuadrado, who regularly starts for the Colombian national team, has only started four games at Chelsea since joining the team in January on a four year £23.3 million deal. Cuadrado struggled against Chelsea teammate Willian for a spot in the starting eleven.
Juventus is looking for help at the midfield position after newly acquired German international Sami Khedira went down with a muscle tear in his right thigh earlier this month. Cuadrado will be competing for playing time with current midfielders Simone Padoin, Roberto Pereyra and Paul Pogba, all starters in Sunday’s loss to a weaker Udinese side. Last year Udinese finished 16th out of the 20 teams of the Serie A.
The deal will bring Cuadrado back to the Serie A where he began his international career. After early success in the Colombian domestic league Cuadrado joined Udinese, later bouncing around to Lecce and Fiorintina.
Cuadrado leaves behind fellow Colombian national teammate forward Radamel Falcao, who had joined him at Chelsea in July on a one-year loan from Monaco. Like Cuadrado, Falcao has been used mostly as a substitute, coming on in the final minutes.