Focus on Juan Cuadrado
Juan Cuadrado is a professional footballer from Colombia who plays as a winger for Chelsea and the Colombian national team.
Born in Necocli, Cuadrado had a very difficult chldhood after his father passed away when he was just five years old, growing up amidst immense difficulty. He began his football career with local club Atletico Uraba where he played as a forward before a move to Independiente Medellin, one of the biggest clubs in the country saw him transformed into his present role as a winger.
Following a brief spell with Medellin, he was snapped up by Italian club Udinese in 2009. He was farmed out to fellow Italian club Lecce on loan for the 2011/2012 season to gain first team experience and it was during this spell with Lecce that Juan Cuadrado became one of the best players in the Italian league with his blistering pace on the wings ripping defences apart.
His performances drew the attention of several top clubs but it was Fiorentina that snapped him up from Udinese in the summer of 2012, ahead of the heavily tipped (on titanbet.com at least) move to Chelsea in Jan 2015.
Cuadrado quickly nailed down a first team place for himself at la Viola and in his three and a half years with the club, was one of their standout performers as the Florentine side slowly climbed back to the top half of the Serie A table after years in the wilderness.
His performances for Colombia in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil brought him to the attention of some of the biggest clubs in Europe with Manchester United also linked with the winger.
Eventually, Juan Cuadrado was signed by Chelsea in the January transfer window of 2015 for a fee of £ 27 million which also saw Mohamed Salah join Fiorentina on loan. Cuadrado signed a four and half years contract with the Blues.
