Arsenal have reportedly opened talks with Juventus over the transfer of 29-year-old Juan Cuadrado.
Max Allegri is said to be prepared to let Cuadrado leave this summer, although various reports claim this is dependent on the Italians being able to land Douglas Costa from Bayern Munich.
Arsenal have already had a bid of £17.6m turned down for a player who has been a long-time Arsene Wenger target. In fact, the Gunners were heavily linked with him for a couple of seasons before he opted to join Chelsea from Fiorentina at the start of 2015.
His spell in England, which saw him feature for the Blues just 15 times, raises a host of questions. Why was he not able to settle at Chelsea? Was it the Premier League or the club? England or their manager?
At 29, £30m is a hefty investment that offers little by way of resale value.
Two years older than Theo Walcott, Cuadrado scored two to Theo’s 10 in the league, despite playing (slightly) more minutes. On the assist front, Cuadrado picked up six to Walcott’s 2.
What’s notable about Cuadrado’s stats from last season is that he picked up seven yellows in 30 league games – two more than that ‘thug’ Granit Xhaka managed in 32.
This is certainly a weird transfer. A few years ago, when he was entering his prime, it would have made far more sense, but now?
Not so much.
Still, we’ll probably never know why Arsene Wenger wants half the players he signs.
Transfer fee
Depending on where you do your reading, Arsenal can sign him for £22m or £30m.