Gonzalo Higuain confirms he would ‘hold in’ his belly during Juventus photographs, had ‘no doubts’ when leaving Napoli, but laughs Arsenal ‘thought I was too expensive and then paid for Mesut Ozil!’
The Inter Miami FC striker spoke to Tyc Sports in Argentina about his career, most of which was spent in Serie A with the Partenopei and then the Old Lady.
Often criticised for his weight, Pipita admits the pressure to stay in shape stepped up in Turin.
“Juventus were more demanding over my weight. They took a photograph of me every year, but I just laughed, as I knew how it was going to end… with 30 goals. At times I still held my tummy in for the photos, though.”
Higuain set a new all-time record of 36 Serie A goals in a single campaign with Napoli, but still only finished second in the Scudetto race, so made the move to their arch-rivals Juventus.
“I left because I thought what else do I have to do in order to win something after scoring 36 goals? So when Juventus came along and asked after me, there was no room for doubt.
“Napoli fans were very angry, but what goes around comes around, so for all the insults and hate they aimed at me, I scored six goals against them in eight games.”
However, the Argentina international does reveal he very nearly went abroad to the Premier League in 2013.
“I remember that I was on the verge of going to Arsenal when I went to Napoli, but they said I was too expensive. And a few days later, they paid €80m for Ozil!” laughed Higuain.
In fairness, the cost of that Ozil operation was closer to €50m, but still significantly more than the €40m Napoli paid to get Higuain from Real Madrid in 2013.