Chelsea reach agreement over move for Higuain – Reports

Chelsea have reached an agreement with Juventus over the transfer of Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain for a fee believed to be in the region of £61million, according to reports in Italy. The Blues will cough up £51million up front with an additional £8million in add-ons and bonuses.

Chelsea, who are close to officially announcing Maurizio Sarri as their new head coach, are prepared to break the club record fee of £58million they shelled out for Morata, to secure the services of Higuain. Personal terms are yet to be negotiated but the players himself has reportedly given a verbal agreement.

Morata flattered to deceive in his first season at the Bridge, managing just 11 goals in 31 Premier League appearances, and is set to be offloaded this summer. Chelsea were initially interested in a Morata-Higuain straight swap but had that proposition rebuffed almost instantly. 

Higuain is one of the most prolific strikers in club football, having netted a whopping 282 times in 556 appearances in his career thus far. He was especially lethal at Napoli, where he managed to break the Serie A record for most goals in a single campaign, hitting the back of the net 36 times. He has enjoyed some success at Juventus as well, lifting two consecutive Serie A and Coppa Italia titles. 

Morata, on the other hand, came in for a lot of criticism for his performances in a Chelsea shirt, failing to adequately fill the void left by Diego Costa's exit. To add to his woes, he was dropped from Spain's squad for the World Cup and is now eyeing a move away to find a semblance of the form that made him one of the hottest prospects in Europe.

The Blues are also interested in onboarding Juventus defender Daniele Rugani and talks are currently underway regarding a potential £35m switch.