The Argentine striker has impressed a number of Premier League clubs with his performances for Napoli this past season. 

Gonzalo Higuain nearly carried Napoli to the Scudetto, scoring 38 goals and registering 2 assists in 40 appearances for I Partenopei. In the process, he broke the 66-year-old record for most goals scored in a single Serie A season, netting 36 times in 2015-16.

Higuain has emerged as one of the most clinical finishers in the game this past season, and his exploits have attracted the interest of Premier League giants Chelsea, with the player also rumored to be interested in a move to Liverpool.

However, the 28-year-old looks set to snub a Premier League move in order to extend his stay at Napoli to 2020, according to Italian publication Corriere Dello Sport. The report states that Napoli have offered Higuain €6.5 million per year for the next four years to extend his current contract from 2018 to 2020.

In addition to this, Napoli chairman Aurelio de Laurentiis has been trying to coax his star striker to stay, saying that he could be the Maradona of the Third Millennium’, referencing the famous stint of Argentine legend Diego Armando Maradona at the club in the 1980’s.

However, Chelsea and Liverpool still have a chance to sign him right after Copa America Centenario, before he commits himself to Napoli. Higuain has a €94.75 million release clause in his current contract, which will be removed if he signs a new deal. If they were to trigger the clause, they could tempt the Argentine to come to the Premier League with more lucrative incentives.

Chelsea require a striker, more than Liverpool

Chelsea appoint Antonio Conte as new manager

Liverpool are interested in the striker, but Jurgen Klopp has as many as six established options to fall back upon for the striker’s role. Daniel Sturridge has been waylaid by injury in the past couple of seasons, but in his absence, Roberto Firmino and Divock Origi have thrived in the striker’s position under Jurgen Klopp. Liverpool also have the underutilized Christian Benteke, former Burnley striker Danny Ings and Mario Balotelli, who is returning from his loan spell at AC Milan.

Chelsea, on the other hand, have very few options to call upon up front. Both Alexandre Pato and Radamel Falcao have ingloriously left the club after shoddy loan spells.

Loic Remy has been anonymous for them this past season, while there are doubts over Diego Costa’s efficiency. In addition to this, Antonio Conte will need one more pure striker to effectively implement his favoured 3-5-2 formation.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Recommended

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.