Bayern Munich linked to World Cup standout from Colombia

Multiple reports from the Italian press, including La Repubblica and Gianluca di Marzio, have stated that Bayern Munich are in pursuit of Fiorentina winger Juan Cuadrado.

The 26-year-old Colombian winger is currently playing in the 2014 World Cup and having a monster tournament for Colombia with 3 assists though two games and has been one of the true standouts for a Colombian national team sans Radamel Falcao. This coming on the heels of a 15 goal, 11 assist season over 43 appearances for Fiorentina, has placed him under the lenses of some or Europe's biggest teams. Along with Bayern Munich, it appears Barcelona are also interested in adding him.

The issue with any pursuit of Juan Cuadrado is that he is going to be extremely expensive signing for any team. The Colombian has been on loan for the last two seasons with Fiorentina and was their primary transfer focus this offseason. Cuadrado just recently completed a formal transfer to Fiorentina to the tune of €15M and signed a 3 year contract. With those two facts in concert expect any transfer fee for Cuadrado to be in excess of €30M. Given that Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery still exist, that would be an extremely expensive luxury signing, which is not really the type of buy that Bayern Munich go for unless it's a true once-in-a-generation talent like Javi Martinez or Thiago. Cuadrado is a very good and very exciting winger, but he's not in that caliber of players. Don't expect this rumor to amount to much as the transfer window progresses.