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Higuain joins Chelsea on loan from Juventus

Published

5 years ago

January 24, 2019

Chelsea have completed the signing of Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuain , who joined the club on loan from Juventus until the end of the season , the English Premier League club said on Wednesday .
Higuain joins Chelsea after his year- long loan spell with AC Milan was cut to less than six months.

The deal reunites the striker with Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri , who was manager of Napoli when Higuain was at the club .

“ 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 English Premier League , a league I ’ ve always wanted to play in , ” Higuain said in a statement on the 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 . ”

The deal , however , has come too late for him to face Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup semi -final second leg on Thursday .

The 31 – year- old did not sign before Wednesday ’ s midday deadline and cannot therefore play against Spurs at Stamford Bridge in a match Chelsea trail 1 – 0 from the first leg .

Higuain ’ s spell at AC Milan started with six goals in seven games but he has only scored once in his last 12 appearances .

Sarri hopes he will rediscover the form that saw him score 38 times in their final season together at Napoli in 2015 / 2016 .

“ He has had some difficulties recently, but we ’ re hoping we can raise him back to his best form , ” Sarri told reporters on Wednesday .

“ He ’ s still scored eight goals in a team that isn’ t at the same level as Juventus .

“ He ’ s a very strong striker. Especially in my first season in Naples . He scored 36 goals in 35 matches in Serie A . For sure , he is one of the best strikers in my career . ”

Sarri was keen to boost his goalscoring options after dropping misfiring Spain forward Alvaro Morata and deploying playmaker Eden Hazard as a ` false nine ’ in recent games .

Asked if the arrival of Higuain was a sign that the club are behind him , Sarri said : “ I hope so.

“ I think the club agree with me when I told them my opinion about the team .

“ The January market is very difficult , especially for a striker. It’ s very difficult in January to find one of the most important strikers in the world . ”

Chelsea are in the fourth and final UEFA Champions League qualifying spot in the English Premier League standings , three points ahead of Arsenal who beat them 2 -0 on Saturday .

( NAN )