It’s been no secret in recent weeks that Chelsea have been looking to bring in a striker to replace Alvaro Morata in the winter transfer window. There have been some fierce debates between Chelsea fans as to who that striker should be, with the main two targets being Gonzalo Higuain and Callum Wilson. The two couldn’t be a lot more different, but both would bring goals.
It has always been Maurizio Sarri’s preference to bring in the Argentine, whom he worked with at Napoli to great success, and it seems that this vote of favour seems to have won the day. Sky in Italy are reporting that Chelsea and Juventus have come to an agreement that would see Higuain move to Stamford Bridge on a temporary basis until the end of the season, with the option to extend his loan deal for a further 12 months.
Chelsea are hoping that Higuain can provide a much needed goalscoring boost from the striker position, with Sarri rapidly losing faith in struggling Spaniard Alvaro Morata, at this point dropping him in favour of playing Eden Hazard in a more central role, despite the lack of results that is producing.
In a similar vein to the deal that saw Michy Batshuayi leave the club on loan last season, after an agreement was struck for Olivier Giroud, it is now expected that Morata will leave on loan and likely head back to Spain. At the moment there seems to be a fair amount of interest from Atletico Madrid and Sevilla, while Barcelona are also sniffing around, potentially viewing Morata as a longer term replacement for Luis Suarez.
Higuain on his way to Premier Leage
Either way it is going to be interesting to see how both players fair at their new clubs, if Morata does leave that is. Higuain has a history of scoring goals at the top level of European football, just take a look at the stats below, they speak for themselves.
- Real Madrid: 190 games, 107 goals
- Napoli: 104 games, 71 goals
- Juventus: 73 games, 40 goals
- AC Milan: 15 games, 6 goals
While his spell at AC Milan hasn’t been the most successful stint of his career, and seems to be the reason that a number of fans feel he isn’t the right signing (apparently, this would be Callum Wilson…), he is still returning almost a goal every two games. It would be no surprise to see Higuain slot into the Chelsea side and start filling up the scoresheet for the rest of the season.
A longer term solution to the never ending striker crisis that Chelsea seem to face is Mauro Icardi, Higuain’s countryman. This is a vastly popular choice amongst fans of the London club, and it wouldn’t be to anyone’s surprise if Chelsea decide to launch a bid for him at the end of this season. It would certainly be a huge addition to the squad. Though this may ultimately hinge on how Higuain’s time plays out.
Who do you think Chelsea should have signed? Callum Wilson? Gonzalo Higuian? Mauro Icardi? Or perhaps someone else? Drop a comment below.
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