Gonzalo Higuain declined to comment on his expected move to Chelsea on his return to Italy in the early hours of Thursday morning – but a deal now appears to be close.
The 31-year-old Argentina striker played under Maurizio Sarri at Napoli and a reunion with the Chelsea boss is on the cards.
Higuain, currently on loan at AC Milan from Juventus, came off the bench in Wednesday’s Supercoppa Italiana loss to Juve in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
A deal is complicated, given Higuain’s loan at Milan runs until the end of the season, and Chelsea are usually reluctant to commit to deals with older players.
“If you are looking for troubles, you won’t find them with me,” Higuain told Italian media who met him on his arrival at Milan’s Malpensa airport.
Sarri has expressed frustration with his Chelsea strike-force in recent weeks, with Alvaro Morata left out of the squad for the last two matches and Olivier Giroud often a substitute.
The 60-year-old Italian has favoured playing Eden Hazard as a ‘false nine’, but the system has not delivered as he might have hoped.
Chelsea have been in talks with Atletico Madrid over a possible move for Morata, who was signed for £60million in July 2017 from Real Madrid.
Michy Batshuayi, another Chelsea striker, is currently on loan at Valencia, who wish to cut his deal short.
Monaco want the Belgium striker, but on Wednesday said Chelsea favour permanent deal for Batshuayi to leave, rather than a further loan.
This post was last modified on 18/01/2019