Chelsea complete loan signing of Gonzalo Higuaín

Chelsea have confirmed the signing of Argentinian forward Gonzalo Higuaín. The 31-year-old has moved to Stamford Bridge on an initial loan basis.

Higuaín will reunite with Maurizio Sarri after ending his loan at Milan in order to seal his move from parent club Juventus. Sarri was head coach at Napoli when Higuaín equalled the all-time Serie A scoring record for a single season, scoring 36 goals in 2015-16.

Higuain, who will wear the number nine shirt at Stamford Bridge, said: “When the opportunity to join Chelsea presented itself I had to take it. It’s a team I’ve always liked that has a lot of history, a wonderful stadium and they play in the Premier League, a league I’ve always wanted to play in. I now hope I can give back that trust Chelsea have shown me out on the pitch. I can’t wait to start and I hope to adapt as soon as possible.”

Chelsea director, Marina Granovskaia, added: "Gonzalo was our number one target in this transfer window and arrives with a proven record at the highest level. He has previously worked with Maurizio to great effect and is familiar with how the coach likes to play.

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“This was not an easy deal for us to do because of the numerous parties involved, but we are delighted we were able to make it happen and we look forward to seeing the impact Gonzalo will make for us in the second half of the season.”

Milan will replace Higuaín with Polish striker Krzysztof Piatek, who is set to join from Genoa after the clubs agreed a €35m) fee over the weekend. Piatek has scored 13 league goals this season after arriving from Cracovia in the summer.

(Guardian service)