Juventus, Chelsea clarify terms of Higuaín deal — report

Gonzalo Higuaín’s transfer to Chelsea is taking form right before our eyes. After a report from Alfredo Pedulla that Chelsea and Juventus had agreed an 18-month loan (with a buy option in 2020), transfer guru Fabrizio Romano now brings a few more details of that agreement.

Romano says that the deal will involve an initial six-month loan, after which Chelsea can either activate a buyout option, send him back to Juventus, or — if certain performance targets (goals, appearances, etc.) are met, extend the loan for an additional one year while maintaining the buy option. Chelsea will of course take over Higuain’s entire salary for the duration.

The possibility to get out of this deal at 6 or 18 months is certainly an excellent arrangement as far as Chelsea are concerned.

Now it all hangs on a final few details with Higuaín’s current club, AC Milan, as they work out the details with Juventus on how to get out of their current loan deal early (for example: what happens to the loan fee that Milan paid for entire season?).

To try to speed things up, Chelsea have apparently offered up Michy Batshuayi, but Milan’s priority replacement remains Genoa striker Krzysztof Piątek. That deal is still being worked on.

Also in progress is Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata’s departure to Atletico Madrid on loan, to make room for Higuain.

And so, all the pieces appear to be falling into place and Sarri looks set to get his summer transfer window wish after all.