Donnarumma hopes for Higuain to succeed under Maurizio Sarri
Reports in Italy claim that Gonzalo Higuain is set to undergo a medical at Chelsea today and the Argentinian’s AC Milan teammate Gianluigi Donnarumma has wished him well ahead of his anticipated move to the Stamford Bridge.
Higuain was loaned out to Milan following the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo at Turin last summer but the 31-year-old has been quite disappointing with his performances, scoring just 6 goals in 15 Serie A outings.
A move to Chelsea hasn’t yet been finalised but it is apparent that the Argentine has played his last game for AC Milan, with manager Gennaro Gattuso dropping him from the club’s 2-0 victory over Genoa on Monday.
Milan endured a tough start against Genoa but second-half goals from Fabio Borini and Suso sealed three points for the Rossoneri, who climbed up to 4th in the standings.
Higuain has been mooted for a reunion with Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea and Donnarumma believes that the veteran can rediscover his mojo under his former Napoli boss, having netted 36 goals in the Serie A in the 2015-16 season.
However, the 19-year-old, who made some fine saves in Milan’s latest Serie A triumph, is a bit perplexed at Higuain’s decision to end the loan spell midway through the season.
“If Higuain made this choice, there must be reasons, but he is a friend and I wish him all the best,” Donnarumma told Sky Sports Italia.
Milan recovered from their Supercoppa Italiana defeat to Juventus and the goalkeeper was happy with the fact that his team managed to bounce back.
“The Supercoppa defeat hurt, but our objective is fourth place and we are up there. Now let’s focus on the next match, this one’s in the bag,” he added.
“It wasn’t a great start, but we suffered all together and that is the most important thing. We fought hard and our quality emerged eventually to win a very difficult match.
As it seems, Milan’s top-four mission in the Serie A will continue without Higuain and assistant manager Luigi Riccio expects youngsters like Patrick Cutrone to step up.
“I want to underline the great performances put in by Patrick Cutrone in the Coppa Italia, Supercoppa and today,” Riccio said. “He was exceptional in attacking the space, stretching the Genoa defence and working for the team.”
