Chelsea face Gonzalo Higuain transfer deadline as AC Milan close in on loan deal for Juventus striker

Chelsea target: Gonzalo Higuain
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Simon Johnson31 July 2018

Chelsea will have to act fast if they want to sign Gonzalo Higuain as AC Milan are close to securing a loan move with an option to buy for the Juventus striker.

As Standard Sport revealed last week, AC Milan are Chelsea’s main rivals to the Argentina international’s signature and they took a major step to finalising a transfer on Monday night.

AC Milan’s new sporting director Leonardo met with Higuain’s brother and agent Nicolas for three hours of talks.

It is believed AC Milan have proposed paying a loan fee worth £16m to Juventus with the proviso of spending another £32.1m to sign him for good next summer.

More talks are scheduled between Juventus, who had hoped to accrue up to £57m for the forward, and AC Milan on Tuesday.

The fact that the two clubs are also keen to organise a swap deal involving Juventus defender Mattia Caldara - another Chelsea target - and AC Milan star Leonardo Bonucci, has made a deal even more likely.

New Chelsea coach Maurizio Sarri was the one really pushing the hierarchy to make a move for Higuain, especially with club record buy Alvaro Morata unsettled and seeking a return to Italy where he played at Juventus between 2014-16.

But the Chelsea board haven’t made any solid offers yet despite being in talks with the Serie A champions for Caldara and Daniele Rugani. Meanwhile, Morata's asking price of a minimum £58m has scared off the interested clubs that happened to be Juventus and AC Milan.

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It is understood that Higuain, who needs to be sold to help balance the books after Juventus signed Cristiano Ronaldo, favours staying in Italy.

But should Chelsea decide to make a move in the 11th hour, they could still change his mind as AC Milan are not prepared to pay his current salary of £130,000-a-week.

The transfer window in Italy closes eight days after the one in England, which shuts a week on Thursday.

Significantly, Juventus coach Massimilliano Allegri didn’t rule out the prospect of Higuain leaving when asked about the 30-year-old's future at a press conference

held in the USA overnight

to preview a match against MLS All-Stars.

He said: “We’ll see what happens. Did I give the OK to Higuain’s sale? The market is always carried out by the club. We hear about it every day.

“I don’t even have a [senior] striker here, so we’ll see what happens when we go back to Italy: on the 17th, when the market shuts, Juve will be as competitive as ever.

“The club have worked very well so far, and now we’re waiting for this week of work to end, before going back on the 8th.

“After that, we’ll take stock of the market, which will be an excellent one, regardless of what happens next.”

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