It’s been a long wait for Chelsea and their fans, but they’ve finally got their man. Gonzalo Higuain was officially unveiled by the club on Wednesday, on a loan deal.
After weeks of waiting, Chelsea have finally got their man. Gonzalo Higuain has joined the club on loan till the end of the season, cutting short his stay in Milan to play in the Premier League.
The Argentine international previously worked under current Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri in Napoli during the 2015-16 season, which was actually his most productive season ever, scoring a ridiculous 36 goals in 35 Serie A matches. Chelsea will be hoping to extract that sort of form out of Higuain again, who has certainly slowed down in the past year or so, as his fitness levels have started to drop with age.
✍ It's official!@G_Higuain is a Blue! #HiguaIN
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 23, 2019
Higuain will take the famous #9 shirt at Chelsea, which has been somewhat of a cursed number at the club in recent memory. The last 3 players to wear the shirt are Alvaro Morata, Radamel Falcao, and Fernando Torres – all of which had an utterly torrid time at Stamford Bridge. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that Higuain doesn’t meet the same sticky end!
His overall scoring records are very impressive for club and country. The Blues have had a major hole in the centre-forward position all season long, as neither Giroud nor Morata have been able to play to the required level.
"“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” – Gonzalo Higuain"
Although Higuain is a better striker than Giroud and Morata, he is nothing but a short-term fix.
For the next 6 months, Higuain is an excellent addition for Chelsea, as he is a far superior footballer to Giroud and Morata. He is not however, going to make a significant impact beyond this season, and it’s best for Chelsea to let him go back to Juventus in the summer, and then bring in a different striker who is in their prime, perhaps someone like Mauro Icardi.
The deal has taken long due to the fact that Chelsea had to negotiate with 2 teams, rather than 1. Higuain was on loan at Milan this season, so that loan had to be terminated before any sort of deal could be struck. Higuain had a sub-par time at Milan on loan over the past 6 months, scoring just 8 goals in 22 matches.
The Argentine provides Chelsea with a proven, reliable option at centre-forward for the rest of the season. His career achievements and scoring record speaks for itself, he is a seasoned professional that will add quality to the starting XI, and allow players like Hazard to revert back to their favoured positions