Chelsea have finally completed the signing of Gonzalo Higuain from Juventus for the remainder of the season, as the 31-year-old moved to Stamford Bridge from his loan club AC Milan, with the deal confirmed on Wednesday.
Chelsea haven’t had it lucky with strikers, as the Stamford Bridge faithful have seen many star strikers come to the club as high-profile signings and struggle to meet the high expectations placed on them.
Alvaro Morata joins a long list of top strikers that include Andriy Shevchenko and Fernando Torres, who have failed to impress at the club despite big money moves.
For Higuain, he played the best season of his career at Napoli under the guidance of Maurizio Sarri, and the Italian will be hoping he replicates such form in England, with Chelsea desperately in need of a striker who can bang in the goals on a regular basis.
Higuain scored 36 goals in 2015/16 season under Sarri, breaking a long-held Serie A scoring record. And Sarri has told him to produce that same form or he else the club won’t sign him permanently at the end of the season.
“For sure, he is one of the best strikers in my career,” Sarri explained ahead of Chelsea’s clash with Tottenham.
“It’s up to him, I think. He has to score, first of all. I think that for a long-term contract, he has to do very well.
“He has to play. He has to score. He has to be useful for the team.”
On completing his loan move to Chelsea, Higuain, who will wear the number nine shirt, said: “When the opportunity to join Chelsea presented itself I had to take it. It’s a team I’ve always liked that has a lot of history, a wonderful stadium and they play in the Premier League, a league I’ve always wanted to play in.
“I now hope I can give back that trust Chelsea have shown me out on the pitch. I can’t wait to start and I hope to adapt as soon as possible.”
The 31-year-old also spoke about the memories he had under Sarri during his record breaking season.