Cuadrado closes out eleven years in Italy with his exit from Pisa after relegation

Eleven years is a long time. Long enough to arrive as an unknown winger at Udinese and leave as one of the Colombian footballers with the deepest history in Italian soccer. That, in a nutshell, is what Juan Guillermo Cuadrado has just wrapped up.

His story in Italian soccer began in 2009 and stretched all the way to a couple of months ago, with just one interruption: that stint at Chelsea that briefly broke up an almost endless run in Italy. After that he came back and kept adding jerseys to his collection: Udinese, Lecce, Fiorentina, Juventus, Inter Milan, Atalanta and, as the final chapter, Pisa.

It was there, in Pisa, that the lights went out on his Serie A era. He arrived hoping to stay sharp ahead of the World Cup with the Colombian national team, but injuries worked against him and cut short the continuity he needed. He closed out his time there with 19 appearances, one goal and something that stings more than any stat: the team's relegation.

That's nowhere close to summing up his career in Italy, though. That bittersweet ending in Pisa doesn't erase the years in which Cuadrado was a captain, a leader and, more often than not, the different kind of player who could decide a match for his team.

The Juventus years, the peak of his career

If there's one club that left a permanent mark on him, it was Juventus. There he played 314 matches, scored 26 goals and set up 59 assists, numbers that speak to a player who didn't just show up, but who made a real difference season after season. With the Old Lady he won the Scudetto five times, the Coppa Italia four times and the Italian Supercup twice.

He later moved on to Inter Milan, where he added another league title and one more Supercup to his collection. In total, across all his clubs, the Colombian racked up 11 titles in Italy, a number that explains why he's held in such high regard across Italian soccer.

So what's next? Cuadrado himself has already hinted at where his future might be headed. In an interview with ESPN a few weeks back, he was clear about how he's approaching this new chapter.

"There have been some approaches, though nothing concrete yet, with a few clubs in Mexico and the United States," Juan Guillermo Cuadrado

Nothing is settled yet, then, but the intention is out there: to continue his career in Liga MX or MLS, two leagues that in recent years have become common destinations for South American players with European experience.

Next season's Serie A will kick off without him for the first time in more than a decade. It'll feel strange not seeing him show up on the right flank, taking defenders on with that trademark dribble of his. Italy was his home for 11 years, and with this final chapter in Pisa, a cycle comes to a close that leaves behind, above all, titles and good memories.