Gonzalo Higuain to complete Chelsea transfer on Wednesday but misses deadline to face Tottenham

Simon Johnson23 January 2019

Maurizio Sarri has confirmed Gonzalo Higuain will join Chelsea on Wednesday but has arrived too late to face Tottenham on Thursday night.

Chelsea needed to register Higuain by 12pm on Wednesday for him to feature against Spurs in the second leg of the EFL Cup semi-final.

But despite arriving on a flight from Milan at 10am this morning, Higuain did not complete the switch in time.

When asked, Sarri said: “I know they have been trying to sign the contract with him today... they are still a few hours from getting it done.

“I don't know exactly the rule here. Midday? Ah, it's impossible.

“I don't know because I have to speak with the doctor. I didn't see him before. Then I have to speak to the club. For tomorrow, I think, it's impossible.”

The 31-year-old will be in contention to face Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup Fourth Round on Sunday instead and Sarri can’t wait to have him involved.

There have been question marks over the forward being in decline after a disappointing spell at AC Milan.

He initially agreed a season-long loan there in view of a permanent deal worth £32m in the summer, but asked for it to be cut short to join Chelsea instead after struggling at the San Siro.

Higuain has scored just eight goals for the Serie A club, but Sarri is confident Chelsea will have the kind of player that scored 38 times in the final season they worked together at Napoli in 2015-16.

He added: “We hope he brings goals, that he starts scoring for us. He's also very good at other aspects, other than just goals, but that's what we are hoping for. He has had some difficulties recently, but we're hoping we can raise him back to his best form.

“He wants to win all the time and, in the last five years, he's only lost his temper twice: with Napoli against Udinese, and with Milan against Juve. It's only because he wants to win. As for failure, he's still scored eight goals in a team that isn't at the same level as Juventus.

“He's a very strong striker. Especially in my first season in Naples. He did very well. He scored 36 goals in 35 matches in Serie A. That season he scored 38 goals. So he did very, very well. For sure, he is one of the best strikers in my career.”

“He (also) played four seasons for Real Madrid, I think. I think he has the right experience to play here.”

Sarri wanted the Argentina international last summer but the board blocked the move because of his age.

But Sarri has been able to persuade them in this window with the club having scored just 13 goals in as many League games.

When pressed if this was a sign the club are fully behind him, he replied: “I hope so. I think the club agree with me when I told them my opinion about the team.

“The January market is very difficult, especially for a striker. It's very difficult in January to find one of the most important strikers in the world. So the club is working very well. It's not easy to get a new striker, a very important striker, in the January market.”

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