Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has confirmed Juan Cuadrado has linked up with the club for pre-season training in Austria.
The winger spent last season on loan at Juventus and there had been speculation that he could return to the Italian side on a permanent basis. However, Conte appears determined to keep Cuadrado at the club and is willing to give the Colombian a chance to impress this season.
Conte told the official Chelsea website: “I am very happy because I am finding the players with the right attitude and the right behaviour.
“They are great workers and this is very important because we need to have a bit of time to go into a new idea of football, and a new method of work with different tactical, physical and mental aspects.
“It’s also important to have a bit of time for me to know the players and for the players to know me. In the Euros I had a finished team. Now we are building. In this moment it’s normal I have a bit of difficulty with this change because with Chelsea we are beginning our season.
“I am getting to know a lot of new players and I’m bringing them a new idea of football. We need a bit of time but I saw a lot of positive things this week.
“And then today Fabregas, Pedro, Cuadrado, Cahill and Azpi arrived.
“This is important because I need to have the complete group to work, and to transfer my ideas to all the players.”
Cuadrado struggled to make much of an initial impact after joining Chelsea from Fiorentina in February 2015, but he impressed while on loan at Juventus last season as he created 44 chances and registered an average pass accuracy of 86% in Serie A.
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