It’s safe to say that Alvaro Morata didn’t have the debut season that the Chelsea support were expecting from him.

The Spaniard struggled to live up to his expensive price tag as he hit just eleven goals in the Premier League and one in the Champions League. Morata certainly didn’t give the team the same impetus and drive that Diego Costa did when he led the line for Chelsea.

The London club seem set to bring in former Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri as their new manager in the coming days and the Italian seems determined to bring in his own players in a bid to return the Blues to the Top Four.

One name heavily linked with a move to Stamford Bridge has been Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain.

The Argentine seems destined to leave Turin during this transfer window after the Italian champions signed superstar forward Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid.

The Italian press now believe that Chelsea could swoop for Juve pair Higuain and defender Daniele Rugani in a deal believed to be worth around €100m.

After the disappointment of Morata in the last year, it will be hoped that Gonazalo can be the hitman that fires in the goals for the blue half of London next term.

Higuain would offer Chelsea more of a physical presence up-top than Alvaro did in the last campaign.

He’s also very much a clinical finisher, having scored 111 Serie A goals in his five years in the Italian top flight.

Like current Chelsea forward Oliver Giroud, the Argentine international can hold the ball up well and also link-up with those attackers playing in around him in the final third of the field.

Higuain is also smart with his runs and that allows him to create space for himself and/or others. Plus he’s also strong in the air, an attribute that suits the English game.

If Chelsea keep hold of Willian and Eden Hazard and then add Higuain to the ranks, they’ll have superb creators and a lethal hitman in the box that can put away chance after chance.

Last season he struck sixteen times in thirty-two league starts and he also bagged five Champions League strikes in ten appearances.

At Chelsea (when Sarri’s eventually announced) he’ll be working under a boss that knows all his strengths and how the team can play to them. Their time together at Napoli was probably the best scoring years of Gonzalo’s career thus far.

Interestingly after the striker left Naples for Turin, Sarri explained that while he hated Higuain’s decision he still saw the forward as son:

“For a while I didn’t hear from him and, to be honest, I didn’t want to hear from him. It’s like when your son makes you angry: For a few days you feel like tearing into him, but at the end of the day he remains your son.”

That shows you the bond the two must have for each other.

In Gonzalo Higuain, Chelsea could be about to get a goal getter that will hopefully make the fans forget about Diego Costa.

What will it mean for Alvaro Morata? Only time will tell!

Posted on July 12th, 2018 by scott
Filed under: Article