90min

Maurizio Sarri Targets Gonzalo Higuain Reunion as He Makes Plans for New Era at Chelsea

facebooktwitterreddit

​Maurizio Sarri has not yet been appointed ​Chelsea manager but rumour has it that he has already started drawing up a list of transfer targets, with Juventus front man Gonzalo Higuain at the very top.

​Sarri left his position at Napoli on Wednesday and is expected to become the Blues new manager in due course, replacing his fellow Italian Antonio Conte in the Stamford Bridge hot seat.

​The Daily Mail claims that one of his first targets will be to bring in Higuain, who played under Sarri in Naples before leaving for ​Juventus in 2016.

In 2015/16, Gonzalo Higuain benefited of Sarri's tactics and scored 36 goals in Serie A, surpassing Gunnar Nordahl's previous record of 35.pic.twitter.com/1A1wREYu3G — CK (@HandofSarri)

Higuain scored a career-high 38 goals in the 2015/16 season with the Partenopei, including 36 in ​Serie A as ​Napoli finished second in the league behind Juventus.

The Turin club then stole away their rivals' prize asset, paying €90m for Higuain in what remains the highest fee ever paid by an Italian club, and the second highest received by an Italian club after the €105m Juve received for Paul Pogba.

Sarri's move to Chelsea has been complicated as Napoli are holding out for thei €8m release clause written into the 59-year-old's contract.

I've had my doubts over Sarri but how can you not at least be excited about the prospect of Chelsea finally playing attractive football? I certainly am. — CFC (@CFCWriter) May 25, 2018

Despite having already ​been replaced by Carlo Ancelotti, Sarri's contract with the Neapolitans has not yet been terminated and they are prepared to keep him under contract for the next year if ​Chelsea refuse to pay the ransom.

However, that is unlikely to happen as La Gazzetta dello Sport (quoted by ​Football Italia) claims that Chelsea have already agreed a two year contract with Sarri. They must now find the money to pay his release clause and Conte's severance fee. They may offer David Luiz as a makeweight in order to facilitate the deal.