Chelsea 'agree £24.8m transfer for Juan Cuadrado after letting Mohamed Salah join Fiorentina on loan'

Juan Cuadrado looks to be on his way to Chelsea with Mohamed Salah going the other way

Chelsea are close to completing the £24.8million signing of Juan Cuadrado after reportedly driving down Fiorentina's asking price for the winger by negotiating a swap deal involving Mohamed Salah.

The Italian outfit were believed to have asked the Blues to meet Cuadrado's £26.8million release clause before completing a transfer for the Colombia star, with reports on Thursday suggesting that Chelsea had agreed to the request.

But reports have now claimed that the Blues will pay £24.8million for Cuadrado after driving down Fiorentina's asking price by letting Salah join the Serie A club on an 18-month loan.

The 22-year-old Chelsea winger - who joined the Premier League club from Basel last January - has attracted interest from Turkish giants Besiktas and Roma in recent weeks, but now looks to be heading to Fiorentina.