Why Mourinho wrote off Schurrle & Salah to bring Cuadrado to Chelsea

COMMENT: With Jose Mourinho swapping Andre Schurrle for the Fiorentina winger during the January transfer window, can the World Cup ace succeed where the tournament winner failed?

Exit the World Cup winner, enter the World Cup wizard. Farewell Andre Schurrle, the German with the medal every footballer dreams of owning. Hello Juan Cuadrado, the Colombian who could carry Chelsea to the trophy Jose Mourinho targets most.

The £26.8 million winger was the biggest signing of the January transfer window. If Chelsea win the Premier League, they might deem him the best, too. The Fiorentina flyer is the final piece in Mourinho’s jigsaw. The picture of a title-winning team could be completed with a player who contributes more to the team than the sold Schurrle, a player who is an undeniable upgrade on the loaned-out Mohamed Salah and who shares Willian's defensive strengths while offering more attacking incision than the Brazilian.

It is why, although Schurrle’s sale funded Cuadrado’s arrival, he should not be seen as a direct replacement. They are very different players. Schurrle brings more of a goal threat. He was Germany’s resident super-sub in the World Cup, scoring three times against fatigued defences. His strike at the Etihad Stadium may yet prove crucial in the title race. The criticism is that he didn’t contribute enough else.

Because goals weren’t enough for Mourinho. Schurrle averages one every 159 minutes – a rate that many a striker would love – over the last 18 months. Cuadrado’s come at a more sedate rate, one every 276. But while that remains very respectable, he won’t challenge Eden Hazard for the title of Chelsea’s most prolific midfielder. He isn’t supposed to.



As for the makeweight in the deal that brought Cuadrado to London, Salah was a poor man’s Schurrle, if a pauper possesses an £11 million signing. He was quick and direct, but without offering the same class. As most of his outings came against inferior opponents, his statistics ought to be better than the German’s. They aren’t.

Cuadrado’s signing shows a change of emphasis. He is an all-rounder, an attacker with the defensive nous to have operated as a right-back. He has the pace to lead counter-attacks and the stamina to be a one-man right flank. He has joined the contingent of Chelsea’s South American middle-distance runners, along with Willian and Ramires, but with the promise of craft to augment the graft. He is a hybrid: part athlete, part artist.

There is much to admire about Willian, the midfielder who is still running when the Duracell Bunny is knackered, but he brings far more industry than invention. It is an indictment of the Brazilian that the right-sided player who has fashioned most chances for Chelsea this season is not him, but marauding full-back Branislav Ivanovic.

And it has made Chelsea an imbalanced team. Their left-sided focus makes them lopsided. They are blessed to have the player who has created the most chances in the Premier League this season (Cesc Fabregas, with 67) and the most in open play (Hazard, with 59). They are two of the three most productive passers in the league, sandwiching West Ham’s reinvigorated Stewart Downing in the creative charts. 

Yet the disparity between left and right is highlighted by the statistical proof that Willian is only the sixth most creative player in the Chelsea side, trailing Fabregas, Hazard, Diego Costa, Oscar and Ivanovic. Given Willian’s work ethic and the ever-present threat of the raiding Ivanovic, it is an exaggeration to say opposing left-backs have an easy day against Chelsea. They don’t. But they may escape the sort of torture Hazard inflicts upon right-backs on a regular basis.

Now consider Cuadrado’s efforts for Fiorentina. He is a dribbler who beats defenders for fun. He is a constant source of opportunities. He ranks joint third in Serie A for chances created in open play this season (and as Fabregas and Hazard are on hand to take Chelsea’s set-pieces, they don't need a dead-ball expert). If Cuadrado finds his Fiorentina form at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea’s threat will stretch from touchline to touchline, from the deep-lying playmaker Fabregas to the warrior striker Costa. 



If others falter, Chelsea’s potential right-sided alliance of Ivanovic and Cuadrado could become their trump card. Because there is a reason Mourinho sent for reinforcements when others thought he had the most complete side in the league.

Hazard and Fabregas have shouldered a huge burden that may need relieving. Chelsea’s creators in chief have been overworked over the past six months. If they should tire in the next four, Cuadrado represents the cavalry, coming to Chelsea’s rescue. Perhaps he will become Costa’s main supplier at the business end of the campaign.

And perhaps he, like Nemanja Matic 12 months ago, will show that Mourinho is justified in acting decisively in a winter window most major managers ignore. Cuadrado is the right winger who could be the right man at the right time.