Back in 2013, Gonzalo Higuain was reportedly close to signing for Arsenal. He had already decided to leave Real Madrid and was heavily linked with a move to North London. In the end, the deal didn’t materialise and he decided to join Napoli instead.
Four years later, Arsenal have another opportunity to sign the Argentine. The Gunners have rekindled their interest in the Napoli striker this summer but so far there hasn’t been any concrete offer yet.
Higuain has a contract with Napoli till 2018 and has a release clause of €94m. His brother recently said that the Argentine striker wants to move elsewhere (Higuain has rejected a contract extension offer) and that a move to the Premier League could be a possible option.
Arsenal probably do not want to pay such a high transfer fee straightaway rather they are looking to involve an Arsenal player as a part of any potential deal. According to reports from Calciomercato, Arsenal are planning to offer €50m plus Olivier Giroud to lure Napoli to agree to a deal for Higuain.
Higuain is also a reported target of Premier League rivals Chelsea. However, any move for Higuain will depend on whether Chelsea can ship out Diego Costa. La Liga giants Atletico Madrid want to re-sign their former player while there is a suggestion that Costa might prefer a move to Spain as well.
Another possible reason why Arsenal have suddenly decided to make a formal offer for Higuain could be their failure in landing Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid. The Spain striker returned to Madrid last month from Juventus after Los Blancos had triggered his €30m buy-back clause.
Initially, it was thought that Madrid would sell Morata on a profit but recent reports suggest that the European champions have no such intentions of doing so. They want to keep the player with them and expect him to perform at a top level again. Put it simply, Morata is not for sale.
Probably Arsenal are made aware of Morata’s situation and the Gunners now understand it’s futile to have a wild goose chase for the player. Higuain may prove to be a costly signing but there is no harm in trying to tempt Napoli with a lucrative player-plus-cash package deal.
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