According to reports from The Express this morning, Napoli have valued their in-demand front-man Gonzalo Higuain at a whopping £42million to deter interest from potential suitors.
The 27 year-old boasts a prolific return of 212 goals in 447 appearances throughout his spells with River Plate, Real Madrid, Napoli and the Argentine national team, including 27 goals for Partenopei across all competitions this season.
As This Is Futbol revealed last month, the 6 foot 1 striker is widely expected to leave San Paolo this summer unless the Naples outfit qualify for the Champions League – which would require the miracle of closing a three-point and 13-goal gap on Lazio during their final game of the season.
Arsenal and Liverpool are considered to be amongst Higuain’s likeliest suitors, as This Is Futbol revealed earlier this month. The former almost signed him from Real Madrid in summer 2013 until a dispute over his price-tag, whilst Liverpool are desperate to inject some established quality into their strike-force this summer.
But according to The Express, who quote Italian website Tuttomercatoweb, Napoli will only sell for the rather outrageous fee of £42million – which would significantly exceed the original fee they paid for the former Bernabeu star.
Whether this news forces Arsenal and Liverpool to consider other targets remains to be seen.
Haha £42m for Higuain is outrageous, good goalscorer though.
Loving the news ticker at the bottom btw!