Chelsea are trying to complete the signing of Gonazo Higuain in time so he can make his debut against Arsenal on Saturday.
The west London club agreed a deal with Juventus late last night to sign the Argentina international on loan for the rest of the season, which will pave the way for Alvaro Morata to leave for Atletico Madrid.
Chelsea have until 12pm on Friday to officially register the 31-year-old as a member of the squad for the striker to be able to feature against Unai Emery’s side at Emirates Stadium the following day.
Higuain flew back to Italy in the early hours of this morning having played for AC Milan, where he has spent the first half of the season on loan, in their 1-0 defeat to Juventus in the Italian Super Cup Final in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
AC Milan coach Gennaro Gattuso didn’t start Higuain against his parent club due to a ‘fever’ but brought him on as a substitute with 20 minutes to go.
Speaking about the Chelsea switch on his arrival back at Milan’s Malpensa Airport, Higuain told reporters: “If you are looking for troubles, you won’t find them with me.”
Chelsea have already discussed personal terms with the former Napoli star’s brother and agent Nicolas and are prepared to take on his £150,000-a-week salary.
The deal is still being held up while AC Milan try to secure a replacement, but the Serie A club are closing in on Genoa’s Krzysztof Piatek.
Higuain is on standby to fly into the capital later today in order to undergo a medical and sign the Chelsea contract before tomorrow’s deadline.
The club are confident the switch will be completed regardless and coach Maurizio Sarri will have him available for the second leg of their League Cup semi-final against Spurs next Thursday at the latest.
Higuain has been Sarri’s top target since he replaced Antonio Conte as manager back in July. The duo have a strong bond from working together at Napoli and the Argentine scored a personal best 38 goals in his final season there in 2015-16.
Chelsea’s hierarchy rejected Sarri’s request to sign him last summer because of the cost for a player that is over 30.
However, Sarri has made it clear that Higuain is needed with Morata and Olivier Giroud struggling up front.
Juventus had hoped that Chelsea would agree to take over AC Milan’s loan agreement in full, which would mean buying him on a permanent basis for £32m at the end of the campaign.
But Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia has successfully convinced Juventus to accept the option of another loan for 12 months and even that is dependent on how many goals and appearances Higuain makes, as well as what success Chelsea have.
