Barcelona have reportedly tabled an offer of €55m for Gonzalo Higuain, but Napoli are asking for €70m.
Barcelona have reportedly tabled an offer of €55m for Gonzalo Higuain, but Napoli are asking for €70m.
Higuain has been continually linked with a return to Spain after just a single season with the Vesuviani and is listed as Barca’s primary objective to reinforce their attack, after reported attempts to pick up Sergio Aguero from Manchester City apparently proved unsuccessful.
Whilst the club have made clear that they do not want to sell the 26-year-old, the Gazzetta dello Sport report that an offer has now come in.
The publication believe that the Catalans have tabled an initial bid of €55m for the former Real Madrid forward, which represents a €15m increase on what Aurelio De Laurentiis paid to bring Higuain to the San Paolo last summer.
However, it is understood to be not satisfactory to Napoli and that they have indicated they will only release Higuain for an offer of €70m.
The Gazzetta dello Sport also reiterate that De Laurentiis’ intention is to open talks with Higuain over an improved contract to not only increase his annual salary by €500,000 to €5.5m, but to also increase a buyout clause at that €70m figure.
It is believed that only a firm statement to the contrary from Higuain would change Napoli’s course of action.
The player was reported yesterday as having assured the Partenopei that he was misquoted in comments made about the prospect of linking up with Lionel Messi at club level.