After weeks of speculation, Gonzalo Higuain looks very close to signing for Juventus after the Napoli star accepted a deal from his rivals.
The Argentine international has been linked with West Ham United and fellow English Premier League club Arsenal recently, while Hebei China Fortune offered him a monstrous deal which was rejected.
Juventus were late to the party, but according to GazzaMercato, they are in pole position to sign the 28-year-old and a deal could be finalised within the coming days after the player himself chose to accept an offer presented by the current Serie A champions.
It would mean a major financial setback for the Bianconeri, who would be forced to pay Higuain’s buyout clause of €94.7 million across two seasons.
Despite De Laurentiis’ strong will to keep his star man at the Stadio San Paolo, which he tried to achieve by offering him a new contract, it is expected that Higuain would leave if Juventus met the money demands in his contract.
If just less than €100m wasn’t enough, La Vecchia Signora could use fellow forward Roberto Pereyra as bait to make sure Higuain wore a Juventus shirt next season.
It contradicts previous claims from Napoli’s communications manager Nicola Lombardo, who recently stressed that the forward was not for sale.
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com