Higuain nears Chelsea deal, but won't play against Spurs
Chelsea are in final talks to sign Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain, manager Maurizio Sarri said yesterday as he looks to bolster his team's firepower.
Sarri previously coached Higuain at Napoli when he scored a Serie A record 36 goals in the 2015/16 season.
That sort of goalscoring prowess is what Chelsea have been badly missing in recent months, with Sarri's lack of confidence in Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud forcing Eden Hazard into an unfamiliar false No. 9 role.
"They're a few hours into signing a contract today," Sarri said.
Chelsea play Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup semi-final, second leg at Stamford Bridge tomorrow morning (Singapore time), bidding to overturn a 1-0 deficit.
The Blues had until 8pm (Singapore time) to register Higuain for the match, but Sarri says "it's impossible" for the Argentinian to feature.
Spurs, meanwhile have some good news on the injury front as with Lucas Moura, Moussa Sissoko and Victor Wanyama all returning to training.
Higuain has been on loan at AC Milan from Juventus this season, scoring just once in his past 12 appearances for the Rossoneri.
Said Sarri: "We hope he'll bring goals, he'll start scoring for us," Sarri said.
"It's very difficult in January to find one of the most important strikers in the world. So I think the club is working very well."
Sarri criticised his players following last Saturday's English Premier League loss to Arsenal, saying his group of players were difficult to motivate.
Asked about the response from his players this week, he said: "I think we need to react on the pitch. The rest is nothing.
"We discussed with the players how to try to improve the approach, the motivation, the determination, so we are trying to change something in training, in pre-match, in everything.
"I think we all have to react on the pitch, of course."- AFP
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