The Lowdown: Juan Cuadrado
Get the lowdown on Juan Cuadrado and what the View From The Stand Is!
Name: Juan Cuadrado
Age: 26
Nationality: Colombian
Position: Winger
Current Team: Fiorentina (68 Apps 16 Goals)
Previous Teams: Leece (Loan) (33 Apps 3 Goals)
Udinese (20 Apps 0 Goals)
Independiente Medellín (30 Apps 2 Goals)
One of the joys of the world cup in Brazil was that of the
Colombian team, everyone's second team whose fantastic attacking display
combined with brilliant team celebrations made everyone fall in love with the
'Los Cafeteros'. Due to their somewhat surprising success that they had, many
of the star players have been linked with moves away from their current teams,
both Ospina and James have both moved to Arsenal and Real Madrid respectively. The spotlight has now moved onto Cuadrado with Barcelona and Manchester United reportedly ready to approach the Fiorentina man, the question is how good is he and is the £30 million pound fee justified.
Juan had his best season of his career last year at Fiorentina notching in 11 goals and 5 assists from 33 appearances, he received 8 Man of the Matches during this period meaning that he is a man in form, which he carried into the World Cup (1 goal and 4 assists). At a height of 176 cm, although not the tallest, he is extremely athletic whose pace is at times frightening, coupled with his surprisingly good touch he is a player who can be devastating at times. Due to his speed he was normally played out on the wing, although he can play almost anywhere in midfield, not shy to make a tackle (8 yellows and 1 red last season) he has also been deployed as an effective wing-back, something that new Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal will appreciate. Combining his terrific pace and control means that he can take on a defender with ultimate, effortless ease, and with a pass success rate of 85.6% over the last season he can also be a good distributor of the ball.
His one main weakness is that of his aerial ability, he often is out muscled and out jumped when it comes to both defending and attacking balls, due to his height he cannot get the desired leap to out compete his opponent, one element of his game that will have to worked on.
If United do sign the player, it is one that they will be crying out for, with Nani looking ever more likely to leave, Ashley Young not quite the star winger that United need and Januzaj still a raw, unpolished talent there is definitely a lack of true talented wingers at the club, Cuadrado will this need and certainly has that star quality. At 26 he has plenty of International and European experience both with club and country, however whether or not he can adapt to the harsh premier league would be an interesting. At £30 million there are not many fantastic wingers available at a better price due to the huge inflation seen by moves such as James to Real Madrid and Suarez to Barcelona.
The View From The Stands: He has enough star quality that would make him a success for United and would be a welcome addition. His talent is worth the £30 million gamble.
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