Chelsea prepare £27m move for Fiorentina winger Juan Cuadrado

Chelsea are preparing a move for Fiorentina winger Juan Cuadrado in January, according to the Daily Mirror.

Jose Mourinho has made it a point to strengthen his wing play and is willing to sell Mohamed Salah and Andre Schurrle to fund a move for the Colombian.

Cuadrado, who can play in wide midfield and at full back, will add some much needed pace on their wings, which in spite of the brilliant attacking talent, is slow compared to what their rivals have in their armoury.

Manchester United were heavily linked with a move for the player in the summer, but Louis van Gaal passed on the opportunity to strengthen. However, with United lacking pace and struggling to carve open opportunities, Van Gaal may choose to deliberate on the option and come back with an offer.

The Daily Mail values the midfielder at around £27m, a sizeable fee, which would need them to sell in order to comply with the Financial Fair Play rules.

Meanwhile, Salah, who has made only seven appearances thus far after snubbing a move to Liverpool last season, is willing to move elsewhere in search of first team action.

Schurrle has also fallen out of favour with Mourinho but is inclined to wait it out and fight for a spot, in spite of competition from Bayer Leverkusen and Wolfsburg for his signature.

Cuadrado, coupled with the likes of Diego Costa, Eden Hazard, Cesc Fabregas and others would be a frightening prospect for the opposition, and give Chelsea a different option to play with.

The Blues are currently five points clear of Manchester City following their 5-0 win over Swansea City in the weekend and City's capitulation against a well drilled Arsenal side.

Mourinho can take an ostensibly unassailable lead should they beat the Citizens when they visit Stamford Bridge at the end of the month, which would take the difference to eight points, with less than 15 games left in the competition.

The Blues faced Liverpool in the first leg of the Capital One Cup semi-final at Anfield, where they were held to a 1-1 draw by an excellent Reds side, opening up an exciting prospect for the second leg.