It’s looking increasingly likely that Juan Cuadrado is going to be the next Colombian football player to make a high-profile move to a major club on the back of an outstanding World Cup campaign. The pacey Colombian winger is looking to seal a move to Chelsea today for around 26 million pounds. So who is Juan Cuadrado I hear you ask? Well, you’re about to find out, with our 26 facts about the man…one for every year of his life, and million that he’s worth…
1. If you want to really impress your Chelsea-loving friends, give him his full name: Juan Guillermo Cuadrado Bello.
2. He was born on May 26, 1988 (same year as me! That’s humbling…) in the town of Necocli on the Caribbean coast of Antioquia department. He was raised in the town of Tumaco in Narino department.
3. His parents were Marcela Bello Guerrero and Guillermo Cuadrado; his father worked as a truck driver and was fatally shot when Juan was just five years old.
4. His mother made sure he didn’t go down a bad path by insisting that he was a model student if he were to be allowed to play football. Luckily for us, he listened!
5. He started his professional footballing career as a forward with Atletico Uraba, in the his home region, and switched to midfield following the advice of the club’s founder Nelson Gallego.
6. He played briefly after that Rionegro, where he was largely confined to the bench, before a move to Independiente Medellin in 2008.
7. He made his Primera Liga debut in the same year against Boyaca Chico, where he also scored his first goal.
8. He only ended up staying for 1 season in Medellin before he was snapped up by Italian club Udinese.
9. His Udinese career began inauspiciously, with Cuadrado spending much of his time on the bench.
10. However, at this time he received his first international call-up, and made his debut on September 3, 2010, in a game against Venezuela. He was named man-of-the-match, and scored his first goal as well.
11. In 2011, Cuadrado joined fellow Italian side Lecce on loan for the rest of the 2011/12 season.
12. He performed well for Lecce, however they finished 18th that season and were relegated, so Cuadrado returned to Udinese from his loan spell.
13. In summer of 2012, his move to Fiorentina from Udinese was confirmed (as a part-ownership deal, which are quite common in Italian football, and darn confusing as well).
14. His first goal for the Viola came in a 4-1 victory at home against Cagliari.
15. That season was his best yet in Serie A, with 5 goals and 6 assists, and a key player in a Top 4 team.
16. Perhaps his greatest Fiorentina moment came in February 2014, when he scored the club’s second goal in a Coppa Italia semi-final second-leg match against Udinese, securing a 3-2 aggregate victory, and a spot in the final.
17. Unfortunately however, Cuadrado was suspended for the final, and La Viola lost 3-1 to Napoli.
18. In June 2014, he was named as part of Jose Pekerman’s 23-man Colombia squad for the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil.
19. That same month, perhaps anticipating a good tournament, Fiorentina agreed to purchase the full ownership of his contract from Udinese.
20. They made a good call: in the opening game of the tournament, which Colombia won 3-0, Cuadrado terrorized the Greek full-backs and ended up with 2 assists.
21. In Colombia’s third group game, a 4-1 defeat of Japan, he opened the scoring with a well-converted penalty.
22. Forget the ras-tas-tas dance, Cuadrado’s Michael Jackon-inspired zombie dance after that goal was my favorite of Colombia’s World Cup…
23. He ended Brazil 2014 with one goal and four assists, tying with Toni Kroos of Germany for most assists.
24. Following the World Cup, he attracted strong interest from Arsenal and Barcelona, but ended up staying in Italy for what many thought would be one more season.
25. However, it’s looking like a winter move to Chelsea is all but wrapped up, so he’ll be waving goodbye to the Serie A, and hello to the Premier League.
26. He’s an all-round good bloke, great Colombian, and See Colombia wishes him the best of luck!
Chris
