Gonzalo Higuain to be reunited with Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea
What's the story
In their hunt for a major striker to replace Alvaro Morata, Chelsea were looking towards names like Karim Benzema, Edinson Cavani, and Gonzalo Higuain.
Now, Marca has reported that Higuain might join the five-time Premier League champions soon, and could be reunited with Maurizio Sarri, his former manager at Napoli, under whom he had scored 36 goals in a Serie A season.
Details follow.
Morata
Alvaro Morata's form forced Chelsea to sign a striker
Morata, who was a decent striker when at Real Madrid, saw a massive dip in his form when he joined Juventus, managing 27 strikes in 93 appearances.
His form further dipped at Chelsea, where he has netted 24 goals in 72 appearances till now.
Morata often misses absolute sitters, making him the subject of regular ridicule on social media.
So will Higuain be better?
Higuain
Higuain suffering from a lack of form as well
Higuain isn't in fine form himself, and is not likely to contribute large numbers of goals immediately after joining Chelsea.
The 31-year-old, who's on loan at AC Milan from Juventus, managed only eight goals in his 20 appearances with the Rossoneri.
Milan indeed wanted to keep him, but his transfer fee (€40 million) and salary (€8 million/year) were too much for them.
Chelsea
Will this be a good deal for Chelsea?
€40 million for a 31-year-old striker at the fag end of his career hardly seems a good purchase.
But the Blues were desperate to sign a striker to end their dearth of goals, and this deal will at least get them a veteran who is known to put the ball inside the net often.
Interestingly, Chelsea had made another desperate signing this season.
Kepa Arrizabalaga
Kepa's purchase was also a desperate measure
Thibaut Courtois had reportedly forced Chelsea into selling him to Real Madrid before the 2018-19 season started.
This made Chelsea desperate to sign a goalkeeper suitable for their club, and the Blues shelled out a massive €80 million (his buy-out clause) for Kepa Arrizabalaga, the then-goalkeeper of Athletic Bilbao.
Chelsea will be concerned that while Kepa is young, Higuain can't be a long-term investment.