According to Marca, Chelsea are set to bring in AC Milan striker Gonzalo Higuain this window after agreeing a deal with the former Real Madrid striker. He could arrive at Stamford Bridge in the coming hours and it would be a reunion with his former head coach from Napoli, Maurizio Sarri, under whom he scored 36 goals in one Serie A season.
Chelsea, who lost 1-0 away to Tottenham in the first leg of their Carabao Cupsemi-final, want to revitalise the team mid-season and bringing in Higuain would open the door for Alvaro Morata to leave the club this January. Milan are willing to let the 31-year-old end his loan spell at the Rossoneri as they are struggling to pay his salary of eight million euros per season, while they are apprehensive about paying the 40 million euro option in the summer; Chelsea are willing to pay both.
Meanwhile, Maurizio Sarri has said Harry Kane was clearly offside as VAR intervened to give Tottenham a 1-0 win over Chelsea on Tuesday night in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg. After Kane was upended by Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga inside the area, an initial offside decision was overturned by VAR as replays seemed to show Kane onside. Chelsea’s head coach said: “I saw the video from our camera a few minutes ago, it was offside. Our camera was in line with Kane, and it was offside, but it’s not important.
“With the head, it’s offside. But it’s not important. It was important that the linesman stopped the run, he didn’t follow the ball, so he had a big influence on our defenders, and at the moment I think the English referees aren’t able to use the system.” He then said in his post-match press conference: “In Italy there is VAR, in the first period it was a disaster, difficult for the referee to use the system. At the moment here the refs are not ready to use it in the right way. Kane was offside, clearly offside, but it is not important. “They need to study better the system. It is very strange in the Premier League there is not this system and then in Carabao Cup there is.”