Gonzalo Higuain has officially signed on loan for Chelsea from Juventus, via Milan. “When the opportunity presented itself, I had to take it.”
The striker arrived in London this morning for his medical and put pen to paper on the contract this evening, choosing the Number 9 jersey.
Gonzalo Higuain has officially signed on loan for Chelsea from Juventus, via Milan. “When the opportunity presented itself, I had to take it.”
The striker arrived in London this morning for his medical and put pen to paper on the contract this evening, choosing the Number 9 jersey.
“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,” he told the official Chelsea website.
“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.”
He is reunited with Coach Maurizio Sarri, with whom he broke the all-time Serie A scoring record, netting 36 for Napoli in 2015-16.
Juventus activated the Argentine’s release clause of €90m that summer and this season he was sent to Milan on loan for €18m with €36m option to buy.
The 31-year-old scored eight goals in 22 competitive appearances for the Rossoneri.
“Gonzalo was our number one target in this transfer window and arrives with a proven record at the highest level. He has previously worked with Maurizio to great effect and is familiar with how the coach likes to play,” director Marina Granovskaia added.
“This was not an easy deal for us to do because of the numerous parties involved, but we are delighted we were able to make it happen and we look forward to seeing the impact Gonzalo will make for us in the second half of the season.”
Once the Chelsea interest was revived in January, Pipita pushed to make the switch to Stamford Bridge and the loan was interrupted early, saving Milan €9m along with six months of his salary.
It’s believed Chelsea now have to pay the €9m for a six-month loan with option to extend for another year in June.
That option could become an obligation under certain conditions.
At this point, Chelsea are free to sell Alvaro Morata to Atletico Madrid.
Welcome to London and welcome to Chelsea, @G_Higuain!#HiguaIN pic.twitter.com/DMJN7z8YOL
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 23, 2019