AC Milan Boss Gattuso Claims He Accepts Higuain Decision With Striker Set for Chelsea Move This Week
AC Milan manager Gennaro Gattuso has claimed that he's accepted Gonzalo Higuaín's decision to end his loan spell with the Rossneri prematurely, ahead of a switch to Chelsea.
The Juventus forward is set to join the Blues this week after having his loan deal at AC Milan cut short, and is likely to complete the move as early as Tuesday. The switch is likely to trigger a domino effect of strikers moving clubs, with Chelsea flop Álvaro Morata on the way to Atlético Madrid, and Genoa prodigy Krzysztof Piątek likely to join Milan.
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Speaking ahead of his side's Serie A clash against Genoa, via the Daily Mail, Gattuso addressed the Argentinian ace being left out of the match squad.
He said: "I want to be honest with you all. We had a poor training session today due to all these rumours. We spoke after the training session and I did not consider him (Higuaín) ready for this game.
"I accept his decision. Surely he could have done more and maybe we could have helped him fit in better. Right now we have to work with professionalism and determination, all these rumours have not helped us lately and we have to look ahead."
Higuaín smashed the Serie A goalscoring record back in 2016, when he netted 36 times in 35 outings under Maurizio Sarri at Napoli. The Chelsea boss will no doubt be delighted to reunite with his former star, but it remains to be seen whether he can capture his former glory after an underwhelming season with Milan thus far.
According to the Express, the 31-year-old will arrive in London on Tuesday, where he will complete a medical ahead of the deal being completed. This should ensure that the striker will be on the books in time to face Spurs on in the Carabao Cup on Thursday evening, where Chelsea will look to respond from their 1-0 first leg defeat at Wembley.
Meanwhile, Blues defender David Luiz has claimed that Sarri still has the squad's full backing, despite the manager's public rant over his team's performance following Sunday's 2-0 loss to Arsenal. Luiz said that the team had come on leaps and bounds in terms of their possession retention, but conceded that they need to improve to be considered among the world's best.
