Chelsea loanee Juan Cuadrado is likely
to stay at Juventus even
if Antonio Conte is appointed the Blues' boss in the summer,
according to the Italian club's chief executive Giuseppe Marotta.
Cuadrado joined Juve on a season-long loan deal last August after
failing to make an impact at Chelsea upon his £23.3 million arrival
from Fiorentina just
six months before.
He
has been impressive for the Old Lady this term, and Marotta insisted that
the likely appointment of former Juve manager Conte at
Chelsea will have no bearing on Cuadrado's decision, per Jefferson Lake of Sky Sports:
"The
fact Antonio Conte is going to Chelsea just confirms that we made a
good choice when we took him from Siena. I am proud of this and for
him," said Marotta.
"But
as for Cuadrado? I don't think Conte will influence our decision. We
could keep him here," he added.
Per Simon Johnson of
the Evening Standard, Juve "want to trigger an
option to buy Cuadrado this summer" and "claim there is a
gentleman’s agreement to sign him for €22 million (£17.2 million)."
If
that is indeed the case, it would be surprising for Juve not to
take up the option, considering how effective Cuadrado has been for
them this term.
He
has netted three goals and provided five assists in 22 Serie A
appearances while playing a key role as Juve recovered from a poor
start to their league campaign to top the division by three points with eight
games remaining, per WhoScored.com.
He
also caught the eye in Juve's Champions League last-16 second leg
against Bayern Munich last week—which they eventually
lost—per BTSport Football:
Chelsea
could have done with a player of Cuadrado's quality in
their largely awful 2015-16 campaign, as wingers Eden Hazard and Pedro
have been remarkably poor.
Conte has
reportedly told the Blues hierarchy that he wants Cuadradoback at Chelsea,
per Johnson.
And
Bleacher Report's Dean Jones pointed out the Italian manager's ability
to attract quality players to Chelsea even without Champions League
football as a key reason to appoint him:City:
Winners and
However,
it seems Juve are keen to keep Cuadrado, and given how
underused he was during his spell at Stamford Bridge (he made just four Premier
League starts in half a season per WhoScored), it is unlikely he will be desperate to return to
west London.
Elsewhere, Conte reportedly
also has his eye on Inter Milan's IvanPerisic as he
plans his potential rebuild of the Blues squad.
According
to Italy's Calciomercato (via Metro's Mark Brus), the Blues
"could spend £23 million to bring him to Stamford Bridge."
The
27-year-old Croatian has netted six times and provided four assists this season
in Serie A and has enjoyed fantastic form recently, perWhoScored:
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