Gonzalo Higuain's loan move to Chelsea in January hasn't quite had the impact manager Maurizio Sarri would've been hoping for.
Now it seems that the loan deal may be short lived, with Higuain reportedly set to be sent back to Juventus in the summer.
It is 'almost certain' that Chelsea will cancel Higuain's loan move at the end of the season, according to Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness).
If he is set to leave, Olivier Giroud will likely be promoted back to main man up top, with Chelsea facing a transfer ban.
They have been given a two-window transfer ban and fined £460,000 by FIFA for breaching the rules around the transfer of minors. They are unable to register new players, but are still allowed to sell.
Chelsea have appealed against the ban, and are currently awaiting the verdict.
It was Maurizio Sarri who brought Higuain to London. The pair were also together at Napoli, including the 2015-16 season where he scored 38 times.
However, since arriving in January he has only scored three goals in 13 appearances, with two of them coming against Huddersfield Town on his debut start.
The Argentine has expressed his desire to stay at Chelsea if they can overturn the transfer ban, however it currently looks as if he's on the way out.
Unfortunately for him, in February Juventus suggested that he would not be welcomed back to Turin if Chelsea decided not to keep going with the loan deal.
vuobdln
87
I can’t only blame Higuain for lack of scoring. We should see the big picture of Sarri’s philosophy. I believe that under the current style that Chelsea is playing, scoring goals is very difficult no matter who is in the front. The weakest link is Jorginho and his poor performance every single time. It takes the team 25 passes mostly in the middle and first third of the pitch before they lose the ball (again by Jorginho). No plan to effectively penetrate the defense. No combination play that we used to be good at. I may be wrong but our problem is in midfield not the front. How come 35y/o Llorente can be so effective for the spurs but Morata, Giroud and Gonzalo can’t.
Harvedlan
59
please make it certain, Chelsea is not for retired legged players...the guy is useless for us here,make them bench him for the remaining of the season.
Hikz
56
We Chelsea fans we are really coward like our team director. Who even put a lady to take responsibility for mans club. He fire better coach and give us this one. And we fans we are coward, even if we buy Messi I know we will keep complaining about the player. We where having Morata and we complaining and let him go and again Higuain what do we want. Maybe most of Chelsea fans they never play football before. You don’t have a heart of football. You are the those who quit if we are down by 2 goals to nil at 65 mins while there is 25 mins to go coward
cumeklops
53
I think sarri if given a chance to stay let him try changing to a different style of play he should explore bse I believe there players who are comfortable with the style his playing now but some are not so he should try something new to make sure all players can fit their roles
poiully
51
Higuain’s performances lately show a sign of a quick decline of star power. He is going to have to really step it up to be a power house striker in the Premier League
slightly
48
Doesn't surprise me, I hope that mean sarri going to shut up and never ask for any player until he is gone because his fat old pipita not good enough and his jorginho 2 slow for the PL
saodeikru
45
Higuain is a great striker. He is the king of SerieA with a record of 36 goals/season in the League!!! Higuain needs time to prove himself as the most important player in Messi's international career!!! He will continue to show his quality in Chelsea for the next 5 seasons!!! Enjoy him while it last. Long live Sarriball! Long live Jorghino's role!! Long live Higuain!!!