`Juventus Football Club confirms that it has acquired the ownership of Gonzalo Higuain for $99 million, payable over two years. This player personally signed a five-year contract with the club,` the Serie A defending champion announced on its home page.
$99 million, calculated at the current exchange rate, is the fee to release the contract between Higuain and Napoli, which is still valid for two years.
Higuain’s photo with the words `Welcome Pipita (the Argentine striker’s nickname) was widely posted on Juventus’ media.
At the world level, as reported by BBC, Sky and Gazzetta dello Sport, Higuain is the third most expensive player in history according to exchange rates at each time, only behind Cristiano Ronaldo (from Man Utd to Real in 2015).
If only counting transfers between two teams in the same country, this is the most expensive deal in history.
Higuain’s salary has not been disclosed by Juventus, but according to the Italian press, the number is about $8.23 million per season.
Higuain underwent a medical examination in Madrid last Friday, so that over the weekend, Juventus sat down with Napoli to finalize the transfer price.
During three seasons with Napoli, Higuain scored 91 goals on all fronts.
Higuain came to Juventus after setting a Serie A scoring record with 36 goals scored for Napoli, breaking the old record set by Swedish legend Gunnar Nordalh 66 years ago – scoring 35 goals for AC Milan in the 1949 season.
However, despite Higuain’s goal-scoring talent, Napoli could still only finish second, 9 points behind Juventus.
With the transfer to Juventus, Higuain brought Napoli a huge profit, because three years ago, they only spent 44 million dollars to buy him to Real Madrid.
Spending $99 million to buy Higuain, Juventus will have to quickly sell Paul Pogba to balance their finances.
Buying Higuain is a move that shows Juventus is ready to part with Pogba.
Higuain is Juventus’ fifth rookie in this summer transfer window.
Among these rookies, Pjanic is said to be Juventus’ preparation to replace Paul Pogba.
