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Arsenal Told To Pay £66m To Land 29-Goal Striker

By on June 26, 2015

It looks like Arsenal will have to dig deep if we want to sign Gonzalo Higuain after Napoli insisted they won’t sell the striker for anything less than his £66m buy-out clause.

Not for the first time, Higuain has been strongly linked with a move to Arsenal this summer with speculation suggesting the striker wants a move after Napoli failed to qualify for the Champions League.

Former Napoli player and now agent, Jose Alberti, sent Gunners fans into a spin after claiming he was “90% sure” the Argentinean international was heading for the Emirates this summer.

“Mourinho didn’t play him, so I don’t think he would go to Chelsea.

‘’In my opinion, I’m 90% sure he will go to Arsenal. It could earn be a minimum of €5million.

‘’It is not possible that a player like him wants to remain at Napoli this year after missing out on the Champions League.’’ Alberti was quoted as saying by Calcio Napoli24

A potential purchase price of around €40m-€50m has been suggested depending on which newspaper you read – which would represent a decent deal for a player of his quality in today’s market.

However, Napoli have now moved to squash any rumours suggesting they are ready to cash-in on the player after releasing a statement insisting they will only sell if a club meets his £66m buy-out clause.

“Napoli are keen to clarify certain articles, published in some newspapers, about the departure of Higuain,” [source: Sky Sports]

“The official clarification from Napoli is the following: there is a clause in Gonzalo Higuain’s contract. The clause is £66million.

“There have been no bids. Anyone who wants the player will have to pay the club that amount.”

I personally don’t think there’s any chance Arsene Wenger will pay that kind of money for any player, let alone Higuain, so it looks like we may have to look elsewhere for a top class striker.

Although, it’s worth remembering we were once told by Montpellier we’d need to pay £50m for Olivier Giroud before agreeing a deal closer to £12m so Napoli could just be posturing to try and get as high a price as possible.

If Higuain does want to leave, he may make it difficult for them to keep hold of him, so I’m not giving up on this one just yet.

I’d love to see the 27-year-old join Arsenal as he’s a world class finisher. He still managed to score 29 goals last season despite a relatively disappointing campaign by Napoli and he’d certainly be an upgrade on Giroud.