Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Montella has challenged Chelsea to meet the release clause sum in Juan Cuadrado's contract if they want to sign him this month.

The Blues have held talks over snapping up the Colombia international winger, with an eye on potential exits for Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah and German forward Andre Schurrle.




But Chelsea are unwilling to pay more than €25m for Cuadrado, a sum which Fiorentina deem insufficient given the €35m release clause in the player's contract.

 


And Montella, who does not expect to lose Cuadrado this month, challenged Chelsea to put up or shut up ahead of today's Serie A clash against Roma.

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Questioned extensively on Cuadrado at a press conference, Montella replied: "The whole case of Cuadrado is in fact very simple.

"He has a release clause of €35m, which is detailed in his contract.

"If a team arrive and pay the sum, and the player wants to go, then he can go."

It remains to be seen whether Chelsea will stump up €35m to snap up Cuadrado this month or instead turn their attention to other targets.

The Blues have been linked with Shakhtar Donetsk's Douglas Costa and West Ham's Enner Valencia as potential alternative targets if they cannot snare Cuadrado.

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