Chelsea are facing a race against time to salvage a deal for Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain, according to the London Evening Standard.
The newspaper reports that Italian giants Milan are closing in on a loan with an option to buy for the Argentinian, after the club’s sporting director Leonardo spent three hours discussing the switch with Higuain’s brother and agent Nicolas on Monday.
Milan are said to be proposing a loan switch worth £16million this season, with an obligation to buy the 31-year-old at the end of the campaign for £32.1million. The two clubs are set for more talks on Tuesday.
The Standard’s report also states that the two Serie A sides are keen to organise a swap deal for Milan’s Leonardo Bonucci and Juve’s Mattia Caldara – another Chelsea transfer target.
The Blues now face the mounting possibility of losing out on two key Maurizio Sarri transfer targets to Gennaro Gattuso’s team.
OPINION
Chelsea are in trouble here. Milan have acted quickly to try and pull off the Higuain deal, while a Bonucci-Caldara swap would seem to be beneficial for both sides. The only team who misses out here is Chelsea. The Blues will have to somehow gazump Milan’s bid for Higuain, perhaps by offering more money for an immediate transfer rather than the Italian side’s loan to buy proposal. Clearly, the club have been too passive in this instance. We’ve heard a lot this summer about Chelsea’s interest in various players, but precious little progress in signing any of them. Jorginho and Rob Green remain the club’s only summer purchases, and while the Italian is an excellent player, more is needed at Stamford Bridge if they are to overhaul Manchester City. Higuain is a game-changing type of talent, a natural goalscorer who will immediately strike fear into opposition defences. For Chelsea to miss out on a player of that quality because they didn’t act decisively enough would be immensely disappointing. Blues fans can only hope this latest news will spring the club into action, and perhaps spur them to somehow rescue these fast-disappearing deals.