Chelsea midfielder completes move to Fiorentina

Marko Marin has finally completed his move from Chelsea and will join Fiorentina on a one-year loan. The deal was struck a week ago, but the official announcement had to wait due to some administrative problems. The agreement includes an option to buy, with the price reportedly set at €5.5m. The attacking midfielder moved from Werder Bremen to Chelsea in 2012, but made just six appearances with the Blues. He spent last season on loan as well, at Sevilla, where he made 18 appearances in La Liga.

The former great hope of German football was once touted as the "German Messi," showing great potential at Borussia Mönchengladbach. In 2008, Werder paid €8.2m for him, more than they spent on Mesut Özil, who arrived six months earlier. Both earned moves to the Premier League, but Marin failed to live up to expectations.

You can't help but wonder if this transfer means Juan Cuadrado is off to either Barcelona or Manchester United. The swap isn't like-for-like, but they do have similarities. The German likes playing more centrally, but can adapt to playing on either wing. He's quick and a great dribbler, so he does have the right characteristics for Vincenzo Montella's type of football. That's the theory anyway.

But unlike Cuadrado, who can shake up the team and make it better than it actually is, Marin depends much more on his teammates. His dip in form, from which he doesn't seem to have recovered yet, happened when Özil left Werder and signed for Real Madrid.

Hopefully the huge ex-Yugoslav colony at Fiorentina, and the style of football that favors players of his characteristics, will be a winning combination that allows Marin to regain his confidence and finally realize his talent, but there is room for skepticism. There are already a number of talented attacking minded players in the club that deserve more time, and it's hard to see what is it that Marin has that, for example, Matí Fernández doesn't?

We wish Marko all the best in his new adventure, and hope it will be beneficial both to him and the club. Welcome, and Forza Viola!