And now, in Gonzalo Higuain news, reports from Fox Sports Latin America claim that the Real Madrid striker is hoping to hop on a plane to London tonight to seal his deal with Arsenal.
What’s that? You’ve heard that one before?
Trust me, I feel your pain. If we were playing the Gonzalo Higuain-to-Arsenal drinking game we’d be running around shoeless, howling at the moon and eating late-night gyros with Paul Gascoigne at this point.
It seems like every hour the news-wire is literred with quotes from everyone from Higuain’s father, to his brother to his second cousin’s neighbor’s cleaning lady, concerning the progress of the deal. The Higuain family pipeline has been pumping this story so hard I think I speak for all of us when I say, I’m over this story.
And yet, I continue to write about it. That’s dedication, Holmes.
All joking aside, things do seem to be moving along in this incredibly protracted move. Today, Higuain’s father – who, fair play, is a former footballer and his son’s agent – told the good people at Fox that a final resolution was close. “We managed to get permission from Real Madrid to negotiate face to face with Arsenal,” he said. “Fortunately, I will soon be able to watch my son play in the Premier League.”
Mr. Higuain added that his son would be boarding a jet shortly, likely by the end of the day Thursday, to make the switch a reality. Higuain had been pursued by Juventus, who had made an offer for the player’s services before turning to Manchester City and tying down Carlos Tevez (in addition to Fernando Llorente).
So why has this deal taken ages to complete?
For starters, Arsenal are notoriously meticulous in how they approach transfers. Due diligence and drawn-out negotiations are part-and-parcel of dealing with Arsene Wenger & Co.
But for this transfer much of the blame is not on Arsenal.
One of the major delays has been the managerial change at the Bernabéu, which only was resolved last week when Los Blancos hired former PSG boss Carlo Ancelotti. There was some belief that Higuain may want to stay at Madrid and bridge the gap with the new gaffer, although this failed to transpire and Ancelotti gave the Argentine the green light for a transfer.
Another bump in the road was the need to complete a medical, which was slated to go down last week in Madrid although it has yet to be confirmed whether this occurred.
Finally, many suspected that Monaco also made a late play for Higuain’s services, although this too has yet to materialize.
So how long before this finally gets done?
At this point, anyone who says they know the answer to that question is a liar. But for the sake of Goonahs across the globe, let’s just hope Higuain gets on that plane.
