Maurizio Sarri has confirmed Chelsea are looking to complete the signing of Gonzalo Higuain ‘today’.
The Argentine striker has been on loan at AC Milan from Juventus but with the Blues desperate to solve their goalscoring crisis, Higuain, who scored a Serie A record 36 goals under Sarri at Napoli in 2015/16, looks to have cut that spell short and is set to move to Stamford Bridge until the end of the season.
Higuain set to join Chelsea: Five key things to know…
- Gonzalo Higuain joined AC Milan on loan from Juventus at the start of the season, following Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival in Turin.
- The Argentine striker managed eight goals in 22 appearances across all competitions for the Rossoneri.
- Chelsea strikers Olivier Giroud and Alvaro Morata have scored just six Premier League goals between them this season.
- Higuain scored 36 goals in 35 games at Napoli under Sarri in 2015/16, a Serie A record in a single season.
- His Milan loan is set to be cut short in favour of a Chelsea move, with Sarri saying Chelsea are looking to complete the move ‘today’.
Although the delay means Chelsea have missed the midday deadline which would allow Higuain to feature against Spurs in the League Cup tomorrow, he could be ready to face Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup at the weekend.
“They are trying to sign a contract with Higuain today,” Sarri told reporters at a press conference. “We are hoping he will bring us goals. He is good at his all-round play, but we are hoping he brings goals.”
Sarri is also delighted to have secured such a high-profile signing in the January transfer window and praised the club for progressing the deal, adding: “I think that the club agrees with me when I told them my opinion about the team.
“So the January market is very difficult especially for a striker, it is difficult to find one of the most important strikers in the world.”
Sarri: Hazard has to do more
The signing of Higuain will certainly relieve the immense pressure on Eden Hazard to deliver goals for Chelsea, with the Belgian being deployed in an unfamiliar false-nine role in recent months.
However, Sarri has still called on Hazard to ‘respect himself’ and ‘do more’ to realise his full potential.
“I think he has to do more. His potential is higher than his performances,” Sarri said of the former Lille man. “He has to respect himself. He has to do more.”
The Italian did, however, sympathise with the fact that Hazard has been playing out of position, adding: “He is an instinctive player. For him, it is very difficult for him to play in only one position.
“He likes to go towards the ball and he wants the ball at his feet. For him, it is very difficult to play as a striker but also as a winger.”
The post Chelsea plan to sign Gonzalo Higuain today, Maurizio Sarri confirms appeared first on Squawka News.
From Squawka NewsSquawka News http://bit.ly/2FKuzHo
No comments:
Post a Comment