The news broke late on Wednesday night, and it’s plastered all over the Italian newspapers on Thursday: Gonzalo Higuain will be a Chelsea player, at least until the end of the season.
Despite being over the age of 30, which normally is a rather big no-no for the Blues, the Argentine will team up with Maurizio Sarri once again barring, and could do so for the next 18 months if he meets a certain amount of requirements through his upcoming performances.
Gazzetta dello Sport explain Juventus wanted Chelsea to agree to a full year and a half loan, while the London club preferred a simple six month temporary deal.
In the end, a compromise was reached, with Higuain most likely moving to Stamford Bridge towards the end of the week once the final details are sorted, and a year long extension triggered if he scores a set amount of goals, plays a number of games and Chelsea end the season beyond a certain spot in the league.
It isn’t said if all need to be ticked off for the extra year to happen, but what we do know is that Milan, the ones losing Higuain, will be saving €9m, and that’s huge for them.
Chelsea are now expected to foot the bill, but those details will be discussed in the coming days.
Corriere dello Sport add their little tidbit of information to the reporting, claiming Juventus also agreed to the compromise knowing a happy Higuain at Chelsea is far better for them in the long run than an unhappy one at Milan.
Furthermore, a good relationship between the two clubs is key if the Serie A champions have any hope of holding talks for Emerson Palmieri or if the Blues fancy making a move for Rogério.
Diplomacy at its finest.
In the end, everyone’s happy: Milan save money, Chelsea get a goalscorer that knows how Sarri works, Sarri gets the striker he wanted and Juventus know Higuain is in the hands of someone who got him to score 36 goals in 35 games the last time they were together.
