Gonzalo Higuain

[Special Juan 27,424]

Di Marzio reporting it now too, as well as the other reliable ones.

[mccg 1,528]

HIGUAIN DEAL AGREED

Sky in Italy are reporting that Chelsea have agreed a deal with Juventus to sign Gonzalo Higuain on loan until the summer.

The loan could then be extended for another 12 months subject to certain conditions.

Higuain is currently on loan with AC Milan.

[manpe 10,861]

I read that it is an option to extend for 12 months, but will become obligatory when some conditions are met (goals, appearances and such). Gives him some extra incentive to perform quickly.

[kc_blue 265]

Let's hope obligatory situation doesn't happen.  On to midfield.  

[!Hazard! 3,394]

If true then Marina deserves a lot of credit

[Superblue 6,370]

If that deal being reported is correct, that is a great effort by the club and almost a 'no lose' situation.

If Higuain struggles then he'll go back in the summer and we start again. If he does well then we'll want to keep him another season anyway, and I'd be more than happy for that to happen if he scores the necessary goals to get us into the top 4. 

We're still likely in the summer to go for a striker as I can see Morata, Giroud and Batshuayi all leaving. It would give us the opportunity to bring in a top young striker and settle in for a season under less pressure if we have Higuain here.

The only disappointment I assume is that he's cup tied in Europe?

[!Hazard! 3,394]

2 minutes ago, Superblue_1986 said:

If that deal being reported is correct, that is a great effort by the club and almost a 'no lose' situation.

If Higuain struggles then he'll go back in the summer and we start again. If he does well then we'll want to keep him another season anyway, and I'd be more than happy for that to happen if he scores the necessary goals to get us into the top 4. 

We're still likely in the summer to go for a striker as I can see Morata, Giroud and Batshuayi all leaving. It would give us the opportunity to bring in a top young striker and settle in for a season under less pressure if we have Higuain here.

The only disappointment I assume is that he's cup tied in Europe?

I thought they removed that cup tied thingy for this season

[manpe 10,861]

This is also a clear sign of the board listening to and backing Sarri. Jorginho, Kepa, now Higuain and soon Pulisic (hey they asked his opionion  ). Could be worse, especially the first two were nice surprises. If we also got Paredes that would make it 5 already. We're slowly getting in players for his style, I think if this continues, then it's worth to have some patience and wait and see how it plays out with Sarri once we have some more new players in. I also think we can now ease a bit with our criticism of the board not backing him, actions are speaking otherwise. We will still need to revisit the striker situation this summer though, Higuain and Giroud are not sustainable for another full season, we will need to go in big for someone.

[Superblue 6,370]

Just now, !Hazard! said:

I thought they removed that cup tied thingy for this season

Not sure, will be even better if they have!

[Superblue 6,370]

Just now, manpe said:

This is also a clear sign of the board listening to and backing Sarri. Jorginho, Kepa, now Higuain and soon Pulisic (hey they asked his opionion  ). Could be worse, especially the first two were nice surprises. If we also got Paredes that would make it 5 already. We're slowly getting in players for his style, I think if this continues, then it's worth to have some patience and wait and see how it plays out with Sarri once we have some more new players in. I also think we can now ease a bit with our criticism of the board not backing him, actions are speaking otherwise. We will still need to revisit the striker situation this summer though, Higuain and Giroud are not sustainable for another full season, we will need to go in big for someone.

Agreed, this deal speaks volumes I believe because of the club's stance with over 30's. This must show an intent to make things work with Sarri.

The board can't go and trade off half the team in one summer, this evolution will be a slower pace but hopefully we can get top 4 this season and another summer window with a full pre season under Sarri to work on his style and tactics I believe will have a big impact and I would expect us to be far more competitive next season so long as the board don't pull the trigger early.

[manpe 10,861]

1 minute ago, Superblue_1986 said:

Agreed, this deal speaks volumes I believe because of the club's stance with over 30's. This must show an intent to make things work with Sarri.

The board can't go and trade off half the team in one summer, this evolution will be a slower pace but hopefully we can get top 4 this season and another summer window with a full pre season under Sarri to work on his style and tactics I believe will have a big impact and I would expect us to be far more competitive next season so long as the board don't pull the trigger early.

I'm optimistic that next season will be much better if we keep at it. Sarri having full pre-season with the whole squad, board doing some more good moves in the market and we will be in a much better situation than we were last summer or this season in general.

[YorkshireBlue 3,122]

13 minutes ago, !Hazard! said:

I thought they removed that cup tied thingy for this season

Pretty sure hes not cup tied

[Supermonkey92 1,428]

                        Kepa 

Azpi         Rudiger      Luiz       Alonso

                        Jorginho

            Kante               Kovacic 

Pedro               Higuain            Hazard 

 

That will best arsenal and a spurs without Kane & Son. 

Top 4 may not be lost. Just having hazard on the left again will do wonders! This loan is great because we get our playmaker back! 

[!Hazard! 3,394]

I like this signing very much, he'll give us goals at rate Morata and Giroud can only dream of.

However, what I have never understood about Sarri's obsession with Higuain is that the man is quite slow. You'd think a slow striker wouldn't fit well into the vertical tiki-taka aka Sarriball that relies so much on runs behind the defensive line. Are Higuian's movement and runs so intelligent and is his linkup so good that it compensates for his lack of speed?

[Vybzkartel 284]

3 minutes ago, !Hazard! said:

I like this signing very much, he'll give us goals at rate Morata and Giroud can only dream of.

However, what I have never understood about Sarri's obsession with Higuain is that the man is quite slow. You'd think a slow striker wouldn't fit well into the vertical tiki-taka aka Sarriball that relies so much on runs behind the defensive line. Are Higuian's movement and runs so intelligent and is his linkup so good that it compensates for his lack of speed?

When you keep the ball as much as we do movement is more important than speed.

[whats happening 1,525]

nice job marina, even if sucks this is the best possible deal we could get.

[Superblue 6,370]

11 minutes ago, !Hazard! said:

I like this signing very much, he'll give us goals at rate Morata and Giroud can only dream of.

However, what I have never understood about Sarri's obsession with Higuain is that the man is quite slow. You'd think a slow striker wouldn't fit well into the vertical tiki-taka aka Sarriball that relies so much on runs behind the defensive line. Are Higuian's movement and runs so intelligent and is his linkup so good that it compensates for his lack of speed?

I don't think he's slow like somebody like Giroud is, but on the other end of the spectrum he isn't going to get the ball 40 yards out and beat the defenders for pace.

His movement off the ball though has always been good and i think has made him look deceptively quicker than he likely is and helps him get the initial couple of yards. His positioning around the box has always also been strong, especially compared to the likes of Morata and Giroud - he'll look for dangerous spaces to get into when in the box which the rest of our players seem incapable of at times. 

And one of the biggest positives is he will fight and work for everything. I believe after 18 months of Morata being generally poor overall and pathetically feeble, he'll get huge support from the fans just by doing the things that Morata isn't willing to do. His passion and desire leading the line should be a breath of fresh air.

[LAM09 6,744]

Can't really argue with a 6 month deal. Hope he hits the ground running.