Gonzalo Higuain thanked Maurizio Sarri and Napoli, but “made the right decision” to join Juventus. “We are on the verge of completing a fantastic season.”
Pipita sat down for a lengthy interview with the Corriere dello Sport, covering his past, present and future dreams.
“I have wonderful memories of Napoli and have no complaints, as I left a bit of my heart with the fans. I will always thank Napoli. They were the only side to come and get me when I decided to leave Real Madrid and I will forever be grateful.
Gonzalo Higuain thanked Maurizio Sarri and Napoli, but “made the right decision” to join Juventus. “We are on the verge of completing a fantastic season.”
Pipita sat down for a lengthy interview with the Corriere dello Sport, covering his past, present and future dreams.
“I have wonderful memories of Napoli and have no complaints, as I left a bit of my heart with the fans. I will always thank Napoli. They were the only side to come and get me when I decided to leave Real Madrid and I will forever be grateful.
“I’ll never forget those three marvellous years. I think there are many people in Naples who love me for all I did there and many others who hate me. But I don’t care about that. I care about what I am and what I have done for that team.
“I am a professional, I made the right choice for me. It was difficult, I heard some rumours that Juve were prepared to pay the release clause. I didn’t believe it, and it was a very, very complicated and difficult decision.
“From the day I realised that Juventus really did want me that much, I said enough waiting, let’s decide. If you don’t take risks in life, you don’t achieve anything important. This is a risk I wanted to take.
“The facts, the results both in Italy and Europe from Juve this year prove I was right. This is my character, I am not afraid of anything. I said to myself I had to do it and I did. It wasn’t an easy choice, but it had to be done.
“This was an important step in my professional and personal journey. I like challenges and try to win them.”
Despite the departure, Higuain admits he owes a great deal to Napoli boss Sarri.
“Sarri is one of the Coaches who gave me the most confidence and he knows full well how much I care for him and how much I thank him. I have to say it because I feel it, and he always has kind words for me.
“We agree that we will continue to have a rapport at a distance, because he gave me so much.”
Now Pipita has been changed again with Max Allegri at Juventus, moving to the 4-2-3-1 system.
“When I arrived, I found myself playing in a system that was entirely new to me. It was the first time I played like that in my life, so it was difficult.
“After the defeat in Florence, the Coach decided to change to 4-2-3-1. The moment he did that, he asked those in attack to sacrifice themselves more for the team. He said that to use all the attacking talent at our disposal, it required a great deal of sacrifice too.
“We all got that into our heads, so we wanted to do it and we did it. This is also why I changed my own style of playing and I think that mixture of talent and sacrifice is how we reached these historic targets.
“We have this belief, this awareness that we are a really strong side. But you must never, ever stop convincing yourself of that. We are on the verge of completing a fantastic season, but it’s still the verge: we’ve won nothing yet.
“We started the journey back in August. At that time we wanted, we dreamed, of winning the Scudetto, Coppa Italia and Champions League. We are on the verge, but have to finish the work we started. We’re at the final mile.
“Allegri is a Coach who won the Scudetto elsewhere and really transmits his will to win. He gave me the necessary confidence to do well this season and also improved me on a tactical level.”
Juventus will face another of his former clubs, Real Madrid, in the Champions League Final on June 3.
“It will be a special challenge against a great side. They are a team accustomed to playing in this type of match. Therefore, the way I see football and life, this is a very enjoyable challenge to undertake and we hope to win it.
“The thing I hope the most is to end this truly marvellous season in the most positive way.”