Chelsea must sign Gonzalo Higuian by noon if he is to face Arsenal

Chelsea must complete the signing of Gonzalo Higuain before midday on Friday in order to have him available to face Arsenal this weekend.

Blues boss Maurizio Sarri is determined to be reunited with the striker who scored 38 goals for him at Napoli in the 2015-16 season.

Juventus striker Higuain, who is currently on loan at AC Milan, is flying to London and is keen for the move to go through too.

The move looks very likely to go through this month but Chelsea face a race against time if they want him to be eligible to make his debut at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday evening.

Chelsea earlier this week reached an outline agreement with Juventus to loan Higuain until the end of the season with an option to extend for a further year.

The extension will be triggered by Higuain reaching a certain number of appearances and goals.

The 31-year-old will cut short his loan with AC Milan, but the San Siro outfit are keen to secure a replacement before ending the deal — something which may frustrate Chelsea.

Chelsea have offered Michy Batshuayi in negotiations with Milan but his preference is to go to Monaco. Genoa striker Krzysztof Piatek remains Milan's priority.

Higuain featured as a second-half substitute against his parent club on Wednesday night as Milan were beaten 1-0 by Juventus in the Italian Super Cup final in Jeddah.