Gonzalo Higuain needs to improve his performances for Chelsea if he is to secure his long-term future at Stamford Bridge after Juventus had indicated their disapproval of a return to the club for the Argentine striker, according to Goal.
Higuain arrived at west London in the winter transfer window from AC Milan where he had spent the first half of the current season on loan. Despite a promising start in the English top-flight, the former Napoli hitman has failed to find the net regularly, having netted just three times in his 10 appearances for Chelsea. Yet to hit a rich vein of form, the Argentine faces a struggle to secure his long-term future at Stamford Bridge, with his six-month loan deal including a £31.3 million clause to make the move permanent.
And Sarri has acknowledged that the 31-year-old’s future at the club depends on his goals and contribution.
“Today he had an opportunity, too few for him I think,” said the Blues boss after the defeat against Everton. “He can do more. He had problems at the beginning of the week so today it was normal he could only play for 65 minutes. He has to improve physically and mentally.”
Sarri had wanted to bring Higuain with him at Chelsea last summer but only got hold of the striker, whom he worked with at Napoli, after Alvaro Morata’s loan move to Atletico Madrid in January. To put the striker’s form further into context, his three strikes came against Huddersfield and Fulham, while the latest international break sees him left out of the Argentina squad owing to the tight competition for the spot in the team.
The west London side has declared their openness in finding a workaround for their current rule of offering only one-year deals for players aged over 30, like they did with Olivier Giroud back in January 2018, although this is still subject to Higuain’s performances on the pitch. His parent club, Juventus, have reiterated they are not adamant of Higuain returning to Turin.
