Scout Report: Cristian Cuevas

The recent Sudamericana Sub20 tournament prompted the inevitable speculation linking starring performers to European teams. However, for one player the tournament only reaffirmed Chelsea’s desire to bring him to England.
Cristián ‘Cimbi’ Cuevas was one of Chile’s stand-out players as they won their first four games of the tournament before going on to qualify for the Under-20 World Cup to be held in Turkey in June this year. An impressive feat considering he is not 18 until April, making him he one of the youngest players at the tournament and the youngest in the Chile squad.
Cuevas first aroused Chelsea’s attention at last year’s Milk Cup when La Rojita toured Europe, playing games in England, Germany and Holland. It was not long before he was back on British soil with a week long trial at Cobham, concluding that it was the “best week of my life” and a “dream come true to train with Frank Lampard”.
He was brought over to train primarily with the under-21 side for a week in December – accompanied by ex-Newcastle United midfielder Clarence Acuña – before heading back to the Chilean peninsula to prepare for the Sudamericana. Admitting that it took him a few days to get used to the change, he grew in stature proclaiming on Twitter that he will hopefully be back because “here is wonderful”. And he appears to have been granted that wish.
A fee of about £1.7m has supposedly been agreed between Chelsea and O’Higgins – named after one of Chile’s founding father Bernardo O’Higgins. The Blues baulked at the original £2.5m asking price, but it was clear Cuevas wanted to move to England. The deal has currently stalled after the death of 16 O’Higgins fans after a bus accident, but it is likely he will move in June, by which time he will be 18, after spending the remainder of the Premier League season with O’Higgins.
Chelsea may have been pressed into the signing the player quicker than they perhaps would have liked after speculation that Udinese, unsurprisingly, were showing interest in the player played the Chilean market ever so well in the past – Mauricio Isla and Alexis Sánchez starred for the Zebrette before moving on to a grander stage.
Known has ‘Cimbi’ due to his resemblance to Simba from The Lion King –  keeping up the tradition of South American football players having interesting, quirky and downright bizarre nicknames – he made his debut for O’Higgins at the ripe age of 16, making sporadic appearances for La Celeste . But it was at the Sudamericana where he truly shot to prominence, starring alongside the more renowned talents of Bryan Rabello, Nicolás Castillo and Igor Lichnovsky. As mentioned previously he was one of the youngest players at the tournament, but testament to his clear quality he started eight of the nine games.
40 days prior to the tournament Chile changed manager as Mario Salas replaced Fernando Carvallo, and the change would have a significant bearing on Cimbi’s development. Played as a wing-back in Carvallo’s 3-4-1-2 formation, he was moved further up the pitch as Salas switched to a 4-2-3-1, taking advantage of the attacking quality he had at his disposal.
It is difficult to pigeon-hole Cuevas. Add two or three inches onto his height and you could almost be watching Ángel di María. Not only do they share the short jet-black hair, thin stature and toothy grin, but they both possess that slaloming quality as if on the slopes of Valle Nevado; an incredible balance blended with  rapid acceleration making defenders’ lives increasingly difficult as they struggle to fathom which way the player will move. For the defender it comes down to three choices: stand-off, be beaten or foul – and both players will let the referee know if they have been fouled.
Unlike di María he has not been played in different advanced midfield positions. He has been restricted to the left, and in the Sudamericana he was hybrid of a modern and traditional winger.
In one attacking phase Cuevas will be chalking his boots as he awaits the ball on the touchline before taking the defender down the line; dropping a shoulder, standing him up, dropping a shoulder and then delivering a whipped cross.
In the next move the opposing right-back will be neglected as Cuevas moves inside top open up space for the advancing left-back – a pity he will unlikely feature alongside Ashley Cole. Due to his close control and perception of play and players around him he is capable of taking the ball into feet with his number 15 facing the goal. It is here where he is nimble enough to off-load the ball quickly not allowing defences to settle.

It is more noticeable in left-footed players when they rarely touch the ball with the ‘other’ foot, but for Cuevas it is more than just for standing on. When taking up central positions in the Sudamericana he had the confidence in his right foot to drift passes in behind defences or to unleash a shot that or two that were within the vicinity of the goal, rather than high in to the stands – his shooting from his left-foot is fierce.
He is a direct, quick and tricky customer suitable on the counter-attack – where one of his two tournament goals came – or playing against packed defences.
It is expected that when he moves to London in June that he will participate in the under-21 squad with a possible load move to another English side to help the player acclimatise to the rigours of British football. Cuevas is not expected to threaten the current allure of attacking talent the Blues exhibit in abundance. However, Chelsea fans can be comforted by the players work rate. This season the Stamford Bridge side have struggled for balance, especially when playing the trio of Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Oscar.
Cuevas is a reliable worker in front of the left-back – possibly acquired from his time as a left wing-back. He may be slight and take comfort in over-exaggerating a foul, but he is rarely bullied and behind the goofy grin is a hardened, feisty and competitive individual who does not like losing. He even picked up a red card in the tournament – although so did six other Chilean players.
Chelsea have been slowly remoulding their transfer strategy, focusing on young, exciting, creative almost intoxicating talents. In Cuevas they will soon be adding another.