Aston Villa have been linked with a stunning move for Juventus forward Gonzalo Higuain.
The Argentine, whose previous experience of the Premier League only extends to his short loan spell at Chelsea in the season of 2018-19, appears to have no future at Juve and new boss Andrea Pirlo is open to him moving on.
Italian midfield legend Pirlo confirmed recently: “He was a great champion, a great player but the cycle is over.
“We looked each other in the eyes, we talked and we made this decision. I admire him a lot, but we have decided that the paths will separate.”
Make sure you don’t miss a thing – click here to sign up to our Villa newsletter
Higuain scored 66 goals for the Old Lady after arriving from Napoli for £75m in 2016, but ended up being loaned out to Chelsea and fellow Italian giants AC Milan in that time.
He still had a year on his contract in Turin, but that’s despite the fact that the club themselves have attempted to terminate the deal without any luck. Instead, they’re looking to move him on to new pastures in the window.
Villa, hunting a new striker to lead the line ahead of the new campaign, have been credited with an interest in the Italian press with La Repubblica claiming that they and Premier League rivals West Ham United have enquired about the possibility of bringing him back to England and have even held preliminary talks with his representatives.
They add, though, that there is nothing imminent in terms of an agreement.
Higuain, who is 32, scored five goals in 14 top flight appearances for Chelsea under Maurizio Sarri. He has also played for Real Madrid and River Plate, in his native Argentina, previously in his career.
The French-born forward also represented Argentina 75 times and scored 31 goals before calling time on his international career in 2018.
