It’s pretty much like when we spoke about Gerard Pique and all the talk about him coming to us.
I personally don’t believe it, but let’s take a step back and take a serious look at this deal and if it has any legs to it.
According to a report from Calcio Mercato, Fulham are one of the clubs whose name is being mentioned when it comes to signing Juventus forward Gonzalo Higuain, who appears to be on his way out of Turin this summer.
Similar to what I said yesterday when it came to talk surrounding Ollie Watkins making the move to us, we need to look at this purely from the perspective that he would be a backup. Nothing more, nothing less, because there is no way that Aleksandar Mitrovic is being removed from that starting role. At least not willingly.
First off, let’s take a look at how much it would cost to bring him in. Firstly his wages seem to put him at around £240k per week, roughly four times what our top earner currently earns, so we’d either have to break the bank or he’ll have to take a major cut to make it happen. And whilst a £13.5m value on Transfermarkt isn’t something to be totally sniffed at, if we can make it happen for anywhere near that amount then you might consider it good business for someone of his quality.
How much will Fulham spend this winter?
Less than £10m
More than £10m
At age 32, 33 in December, I don’t think he’s quite at the age where he’s ready to be considered a role player just yet, especially if you take a look at what Robert Lewandowski was able to do at age 32, he’s still possibly a few years away from that. And having played 44 games in all competitions last season, you can chalk that as another reason in the ‘not going to happen’ column.
Now I could be totally wrong, I don’t know what his intentions and plans are for his career. Maybe he wants to give English football another crack after a less than thrilling return when at Chelsea.
And if he is willing to come here and be backup, and take the wage cut necessary to make that happen, then I don’t think we should really be in a position to turn it down. So it’s essentially the same as the Pique talk, yet at the same time I somehow see this one as slightly more realistic.