Report: Chelsea to pay Juan Cuadrado release clause

The Colombian international recently signed a contract renewal in Florence, but it includes a buy-out clause worth €35m (£26.1m).

Fiorentina stated many times that they will only release him if a club comes in to activate that clause.

According to Sky Sport Italia late on Wednesday, Chelsea have agreed to stump up the cash.

The usually reliable Gianluca Di Marzio tweeted news Chelsea's decision.

Viola director Vincenzo Guerini confirmed on Sunday that they had “a contingency plan to replace him” if someone did pay the clause.

Is there an element of panic buying at work here? If so, then bravo because there are plenty of reasons to think that Chelsea will find the second half of the season harder than the first - and having another, exciting potential attacking option to turn the occasional 1-1 into a 2-1 is a fine idea. The title race is likely to come down to a couple of points either way, so the ability of Chelsea or City to pull off that sort of turnaround will be crucial.