Chelsea reportedly approached Serie A Champions Juventus with a massive bid for the Argentinian earlier this month.
If report a from Italian outlet Tuttosport are to be believed, the Bianconeri have rejected Chelsea’s huge offer for the 29-year-old, which is around €10 million more than what they paid Napoli last summer, to make him the fourth most expensive football transfer of all time.
According to the report, Chelsea’s Commercial Director is said to have contacted Juventus CEO Giuseppe Marotta whilst in Milan 11 days ago, and enquired about Higuain’s price. Juventus insisted that he wasn’t available, after which the Blues offered them a massive €100 million.
Chelsea were rumoured to be one of the clubs that were chasing Higuain’s signature before he signed for Juventus, but after losing out on Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United and their pursuit of Real Madrid’s Alvaro Morata getting them nowhere, it seems as if the Blues have now turned their attention back to Higuain due to a lack of options.
However, Juventus will likely not let go of Higuain, even for that amount. The Serie A Champions reportedly want to build a team around him and Paulo Dybala and shore up their defence after letting Bonucci go, with their focus on winning the UEFA Champions League next year.
Higuain is coming off a sensational debut season with Juventus. He scored 32 goals and registered 5 assists in 55 appearances across all competitions, helping them win the Serie A and the Coppa Italia, besides reaching the UEFA Champions League final, which they lost to Real Madrid.
The Blues are in desperate need of a striker after Diego Costa recently confirmed that he wasn’t in Antonio Conte’s plans for the upcoming season. The Spaniard is widely expected to return to Atletico Madrid despite their transfer ban and that would put the Blues in a difficult situation.
After the departures of Dominic Solanke, Tammy Abraham and Bertrand Traore, Chelsea now have only 2 recognized strikers in their ranks – Loic Remy and Michy Batshuayi, neither of whom have had great outings in the previous campaign.
It is unlikely that either of them will be trusted to lead Chelsea’s attack in the coming season. However, it is clear that Chelsea boss Roman Abramovich is willing to back Antonio Conte in the transfer market and there now seems to be a sense of desperation creeping in around Stamford Bridge.
Pre-season training has already begun, and so far the Blues have mostly being showing a number of players the door, permanently or on loan. While they have done extremely well to acquire Tiemoué Bakayoko and Antonio Rudiger, they now need a striker to replace Costa.
The 28-year-old may not be the best in terms of behaviour, but was someone who could guarantee them 20 goals a season. Abramovich, who will now need to flex his financial muscle more than ever to acquire such a player, may even have to smash a few transfer records as the Blues ready themselves to defend their title and also make a push for the UEFA Champions League.
