According to Sky Sports, Juventus have agreed a deal to loan out Argentinian striker Gonzalo Higuain to AC Milan for the new season, with the Rossoneri then having the option of buying the striker for £32million next summer.
The report suggests that Higuain’s agent and brother Nicolas will meet with Rossoneri general manager Leonardo today to finalise details of the move.
The move seems like a strange one for the player and for Juventus, especially as Chelsea were reported to be willing to sign Higuain in a permanent deal. It is not the fact that they are selling Higuain this summer that is strange, it is the loan part of the deal that strikes me as odd.
Juventus needs to comply with FFP
Juventus have invested heavily in their squad this summer with the most notable arrival Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid for a reported fee in the region of £88.5million.
The Bianconeri have also signed full-back Joao Cancelo and winger Douglas Costa for a fee totalling £70million. The Italian giants have not sold anybody for any massive fees to recoup any of the money spent during the window, which may be a concern.
If they do not sell any players for significant fees then they could fall foul of the FFP. With that in mind, selling Higuain for a large fee this summer would have made more sense.
Highly-rated midfielder Miralem Pjanic has been linked with big money moves to Chelsea and Manchester City. However, it seems that the 28-year-old will stay in Turin. For me, he would be a far greater loss to the Bianconeri than Higuain, especially with Ronaldo now in their ranks.
Deal is a sweetener
For AC Milan to sign a play of Higuain’s quality on a season-long loan from Juventus seems crazy. It seems like the deal is too good to be true from the Milan end.
However, as one of my colleagues reported earlier, Juventus are being linked with a move to bring their former centre-back Leonardo Bonucci back from the fashion capital of Italian.
The Italian international was a mainstay of the Bianconeri defence for seven years until last summer when he made a shock move to the Rossoneri. The 31-year-olds arrival was in the midst of a crazy spending spree by Milan, who were targeting winning the Scudetto.
However, the club is now in a poor financial state after overspending last summer, so any big-money sales would aid their attempts at financial recovery. Bonucci is unlikely to be a cheap acquisition, so maybe the whole Higuain deal is a sweetener to make a potential deal for the defender go more smoothly.
Higuain will not win the Scudetto at AC Milan
A move to AC Milan for Higuain is obviously just about staying in Italy. Although the Rossoneri are giants of Italian football, the clubs recent financial problems mean they are unlikely to challenge for the Scudetto, with Gennaro Gattuso’s side odds of 20/1 to win Serie A in the new season.
Higuain is leaving the dominant force of Italian football for a club in a major mess at the minute. The 30-year-old is also leaving a club who hope to challenge for the Champions League trophy next season for a club banned from European action after not complying with FFP. The move just does not add up.
To me, the whole deal sounds rather strange. However, nothing surprises you when it comes to football, as the beautiful game is not always straightforward.
Does Gonzalo Higuain’s move to AC Milan make sense?
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